Gantz: before the beginning
by thedollars666
Summary: What's worse then dying? coming back from the dead to face fierce blood thirsty aliens, with people you most likely haven't met before. This is Gantz.
1. The first victims

**AN: this basically takes place before the anime, my take on how it all began. Nishi is my favourite character and I really wanted to write it so that he was the first one to appear in the Gantz room along with the first group of people; all of which are my own. I've tried to mostly keep situations relevant to the anime series, but seeing as information on Nishi and his previous life was rather vague; I had to base some parts off the manga. Now I haven't read all of the manga, so I only know certain aspects of it. I will try my very best. Anyways, enjoy!**

A sixty five year old man, wearing brown trousers and a beige long coat; was walking down one of the many busy streets of Tokyo. He was smiling happily, carrying a bag of groceries; part of the ground seemed to have lifted, a crack in the ground in his path. Too busy with the destination firmly in his mind, he hadn't noticed the misshapen part of the path and he tripped. His groceries fell to the ground, oranges and apples rolled away out of the bag. The sudden trip caused his glasses to fall from his face and skim along the pavement. The old man looked up, everything seemed blurry, he felt along the ground in front of him; trying to feel around for the spectacles he relied on so much. It seemed that people around him were too busy with their own lives to notice he had even fallen. Scurrying around quickly, always in a rush to get somewhere. Never once stopping to acknowledge the older man in need of assistance.

He continued to feel around for his glasses, as people bustled passed. How they hadn't managed to step on him or trip over his crawling body was surprising. Suddenly, he heard a clink; instead of stepping on him, someone had unintentionally stepped on his source of sight. Moving toward the crunch that sounded in front of him, he managed to locate his now broken glasses. Managing to stand on his feet, he brought the specks close to his face to inspect them. Of course, they'd do him no good now, he fumbled with them until they were slid in his pocket. "I'll have to make it home without them" he said to himself. It had been a while since he'd even walked around the comforts of his house without them.

He thought about his wife, waiting for him at home for the groceries, the sudden need to make it back to her was overwhelming. When you were as old as they, time with each other was precious. He stumbled a little as he bumped into someone; hearing their vague snapping response of "Watch where you're going old man"

The old man stepped to the left "I apologise" unbeknownst to him, stepping further back he heard what sounded like a loud horn; his head turned in confusion. Lights blinded him further, raising his arms to shield himself from the offending light. The oncoming truck stopped abruptly, then skidded sideways and began to tip at a slow pace until it struck the old man to the ground. The truck crashed down onto the road and skidded further forward. The driver of the truck burst through the wind-shield. done a one eighty in the air after hitting the old man to the curb. Screams of those around filled the air; they were soon drowned out by a uproar of an explosion which formed from the truck. Fires erupted out and people scrambled away to get to safety.

A girl on the right side of the road; stared in shock, two people had literally just died in front of her; at least that she had seen. To think, she had already been running away from danger before this had happened. How lucky was she to have escaped two possible Death's in such a short time? Suddenly, she was grabbed roughly by the shoulder and forced to turn around. Her eyes wide with fear as she fixed her gaze up at the male in front of her; he all but screamed in her face; barely even paying attention to the chaos around them. "Why'd you run out on me huh!? You little bitch!"

"I didn't! I swear!" she replied hastily; how had he caught up to her so fast?

"Lying little whore! We aren't through, you hear me!" he held a firm grip on her arm, his fingers pressed hard into her skin

The girl tried to yank her arm free; wincing and letting out a cry of protest "Please stop it! You're hurting me!"

"Good! Who fucking cares!"

"Leave me alone! someone help!" the man laughed hysterically; no one could hear them, sirens sounded around them; the fire crackling loudly, no one was coming to her aid. The girl was dragged into an alleyway and thrown to the ground hard. "What are you doing!?" she screamed as he pulled out a small hand gun and lazily pointed it at her, she let out a pierced scream. "No! Please don't" her plea was cut short as a bullet shot through her skull. Blood seeped onto the ground as the girl lay lifeless, eyes wide and greyed.

A young girl came running out of her school as the bell rang. Other children fled the building also; happily meeting up with their parents that had come to collect them. The girl rounded the corner excitedly as she left the school grounds. Her house was only on the opposite side of the road so she was able to walk herself. A dog come running up to her as soon as she was safely across. It was a stray dog, but she always pet him and sometimes fed him. He barked at her and wagged his tail; tongue hanging out as he sat in front of her. "You must be really hungry today" she pulled out her lunch box and opened the lid. She grabbed the piece of left over chicken and threw as she said "Fetch boy!" the dog sped off to chase it and it was then she realised that she had thrown the chicken too far. "No puppy come back!" once it landed in the middle of the road the dog stopped to munch excitedly. "Come back puppy!" a sudden whimper was heard and the girl screamed, tears streaming down her face.

"Ok, see you tomorrow!" A man called behind his shoulder as he walked out of a refuge building, he was dressed in a brown suit. The man looked to be in his early 40's, short black hair and slim. He got out his cell phone to make a phone call; it was then he noticed a boy had fallen into the road. He heard the mum scream at him for him to move; clearly too shocked to help him herself. He dropped his phone and ran, a car was heading the boy's way; obviously breaking speed limit. The man reached the boy and pushed him to the pavement, the mum cried and held her son close; only to look up to see the man who had saved her son sprawl through the air. He landed with a crack against the curb; his head smashed against the concrete.

A young boy, dressed in a blue school uniform stood looking down at the empty grounds of his school. By now all the students had left, not that he even cared if they saw him. Nor would they have done, they would most likely chant at him to jump anyway. He was stood on the outside, holding onto the railings with his arms outstretched. No one was coming to stop him, no one would. He didn't care for peoples lies, sympathy or hypocrisy. He knew, he knew their thoughts of him and how everyone was always mocking him for his indifference. The truth was, they only did that out of jealously, he suspected anyway. They just didn't understand, how their thoughtlessness, their plagues of personalities; was what made the world as bad as it was. They were jealous because he didn't think like them, he wasn't part of their world. "I guess...it doesn't matter any more" The boy's hands slowly slip from the railings, tears falling from his eyes as he descended downward _Mother...I'm so sorry...forgive me_

The top half of his head appearing first, The old man's eyes opened. The first thing he saw was a large plain black ball. He sat up as the rest of his body appeared in what looked to be an empty room. Confused, he stood up to observe his new surroundings. The room was plain, except for the ball, the floors were made of brown polished wood and the walls were yellow. He looked over on his right, at the windows that led out to a small balcony. It was dark outside now; but he could see the illumination of the lights in the city. Was that Tokyo tower? It was then he recalled the previous situation. His mind flashed through the accident, didn't he just get hit by a truck? He was pretty sure he had died. He had died! But- how was this possible now? Was this the waiting room to heaven? He looked back down at the black ball; that was of little help. He placed his hand across his chest, feeling his heartbeat. "I'm alive?"

He turned around, two wooden doors on the left hand side and one on the opposite side of the room. He tried both doors and found them to be locked, maybe they were duds? He then walked over to the last door, he pulled down on the handle and it clicked and the door opened. Before he had a chance to walk through to what looked like a hallway, a strange noise sounded behind him. He turned to see a colourful set of lights spewing out from the black ball. It was the first time that the object had given him any indication that it was anything but decoration. He jumped when the colours began to create another person in the room.

It was another male, he lay out with arms outstretched; once his whole body was formed; the man startled as he sat up. Fear was evident in his eyes as he took in the new surroundings, just like the old man had.

 _What's going on here? Is this really a waiting room to heaven?_ It was beginning to feel that way to the old man, but then he kept feeling his heartbeat, and by now it was beating faster with each passing minute; hammering against his chest. _Was that how I got here?_

Soon, the guy on the floor realised there was someone else in the weird room with him. He looked at him and suddenly jumped to his feet "You!" The old man blinked, did he know this guy? "Yeah, it is you. Just what the hell were you doing in the middle of the road!?" the guy went silent then. The old man watched realisation set in on the man's face. "Oh my god..." slumping into a slouching position "I'm dead, aren't I?"

"I don't know for sure"

"That has to be it, I mean, my truck totally turned over. Pretty soon everything went dark. No way we survived right?"

"But my heart is still beating"

The guy then placed his hand over his chest "Yeah, mine too. Just what the hell is going on? If, if we aren't dead then... how did we get here?"

"I was alone in this room when I appeared so I'm not entirely sure, you appeared out of that black ball over there. It was like a formation of coloured lights before it began forming your body. I think it's how I got here too"

"For real?" The guy turned and walked over to the ball, he knocked his knuckles against it, the ball was rock solid. "Is that possible? I thought things like this only existing in SCIFI fantasy crap" he soon jumped back as another person began to appear. The guy froze on his feet, he and the old man stared in a mixture of shock and fascination as the form of a young looking woman materialized. The top of her head seemed to drizzle blood before disappearing completely. "No way"

She bolted up in panic and staggered backwards, fearing her angry boyfriend was still with her. "It's all right miss" the old man spoke, she became less frightened and more confused when she looked around her. This was definitely not the alley any more, where the hell was she? Taking a deep breath as panic began to set in again.

"I'm alive..." she looked up to the two new people with her "How?"

"It's kind of what we was trying to figure out. But as freaky as it sounds," the guy said as he then pointed to the side "we came from that black ball" The girl stared at it, were that serious? One person could maybe fit in there; but three? "I can tell what you're thinking, we didn't literally come from within. It was more like, erm...jeez, help me out here old man"

"A transfer" the old man replied

"Yeah! That'll work, a transfer is a perfect description" the guy sighed and then leaned against the wall off to the left. "Maybe its some new technology to save lives or something...I did just die, or more accurately almost die"

"I have to say, it must be something grand if it can bring people back to life"

"You got that right, no technology on earth has that kind of power"

The girl looked up "W-what are you saying?"

The guy walked back to the ball "That something out of this world is happening here. I don't think aliens exist but- what other explanation is there?"

The old man looked at the ball and said "The way it brought us back, that sure wasn't normal"

"How did it bring us here?" the girl asked

As if on cue, the black ball began spewing it's colours once again. It began with Four paws. The girl startled "Just-like-that" the transfer stopped to reveal a brown and white mutt. "It's a dog"

"Isn't that a bit strange?" the girl said "So far, it's only brought back people; and now a dog?"

"Maybe it got run over or something, but just how many get run over a day?"

"A lot I suppose..."

"Exactly, so what? This ball is being kind of specific on who it brings back?"

"I don't know"

The dog barked and jumped up and down in excitement; happy to be in the presence of people.

"It probably doesn't understand a single thing that just happened...lucky bastard"

"I tried the doors over there, they're locked" the old man said suddenly

"Did ya try the balcony doors? I could use some fresh air" the guy replied

"Not yet, that door over there is unlocked, it leads to the hallway. That's about as far as I got when the ball brought you here"

"Do you think anyone else is coming?"

"It seems to have stopped" the girl said

"I really want to get home to my wife, she was waiting for me to bring home things for dinner...she must be worried sick" the old man said

"H-How long have you been married?"

"Thirty years, its our anniversary today actually"

"Oh"

"I was supposed to deliver a truck load of c02 canisters, that ain't gonna happen now" the guy said with a sour face, wondering just what his boss was going to say.

"I saw, that truck, I mean I was at the scene. C02 canisters, that explains the fire"

"Yeah. I bet that explosion caused a lot of fatalities. Man, I wouldn't be surprised if those who showed up here was in that fire. This poor dog was probably there too"

"Maybe not, I don't remember much; but the explosion wasn't all that big, I don't think it hurt all that many. I think a lot of people in the area already got away"

"Well, lucky them huh?"

The girl nodded, she smiled as she began stroking the dog with gentle petting, laughing as it licked her face, it then bent down and then tried to lick her crotch. She thanked god she was wearing jeans "Hey!"

"Whoa!" the guy grabbed hold of the dog and pulled it away "Horny little dog ain't ya?"

"What a strange dog" the old man said

"How...embarrassing" the girl said

Just then another person began to appear "Look! It's happening again!" the guy shouted. They watched with fascination as the body formed into a man. He was standing up with his arms crossed in front of him. He looked around and saw there were other people. They stared back at him, just how many people were going to appear?

"Am-Am I alive?" the man's breathing quickened as he stared around the room. Seeing one three other people and...a dog? "How did I get here? Is this a hospital?"

"All we know is that black ball is bringing people here, so far everyone- including the dog of course- are supposed to be dead" the old man replied

"Yes...I suppose I should be dead, I'm positive I was just hit by a car"

"We've pretty much established that we're still alive somehow. We think this ball is some kind of weird freaky technology" the guy said

"What kind of technology can bring people back to life?"

"We don't know" the girl said

"So far, the ball has done nothing but spout people; it hasn't shown us why we're here" the guy said

The girl sighed, she stood up and wrapped her arms around herself "It all just feels like a dream, that somehow I'll wake up, back in my apartment"

The group of people look toward the black ball as it repeated the same process.

"Seriously? Just how many people died today!?" the guy exclaimed. The transfer completed and left a boy laying on the ground, arms by his sides "He looks young"

"That's certainly no age at all" the man said

"Is he all right?" the old man said, walking over to him

The dog padded over to the boy and started to lick his face, the boys eyes shot open. His face panic stricken, his breathing became heavy as he sat up quickly and stared at those who seemed to be with him. _Am I dead? Didn't I just- what is this place?_ Feeling slightly insecure, he brought his knees up to his chest for some sort of comfort, he could feel his heart pulse against his legs. _I'm alive?_ He watched the old man kneel in front of him, smiling kindly at him.

"Do you know how you got here?" he asked

"No" _how could I?_

"Are you ok?" the man then asked

 _Considering I just jumped off my school roof, I'm terrific. In fact, I should be dead._ The boy didn't answer, he just stared them out, willing them to leave him be.

"Don't worry, we don't exactly know much either, that black ball seems to be responsible for bringing you here...that's about as much as we can gather"

"And it seems like everyone who was brought to this room was suppose to die" the guy added

The girl turned sharply toward him "You can't just blurt out things like that! He's just a kid!"

"It's true though! Besides, you don't look that much older then him"

"I'm nineteen actually"

The boy stood up then "It doesn't matter anyway" he said. They looked over at him and then watched him as he walked in front of the ball. "What gave it the right to decide what my fate should be? That should have been my decision"

"We don't know why we were saved, but I'm not ungrateful" the old man said, wondering just what the boy meant.

"Me either" the guy said

"I don't think it's going to- bring anyone else here" the man said

"Well, until we can figure out just what the hell happened; let's get some fresh air"

The boy was the first to attempt the balcony doors, wondering why the hell none of them had even gone outside. As he reached for the handles, he found it to be rather difficult. He attempted three more times and was unable to even touch them. His eyes widened and he began to panic, his back was facing them so they couldn't see his expression. Realising that the boy had stopped, they made their way over. "Are they locked?" the girl asked. She too, attempted to open the doors. To her utter disbelief she had no more luck then the boy. "Oh my god, we're trapped; there's no way out of here"

"The hall way" the guy said as he turned to the old man "Didn't you say something about a hall way?" the old man nodded in response. They watched the guy run through the only open door and waited... "Dammit!" he come running back to them "There's another door out there, it's locked too" they slumped

"We really are trapped" the man confirmed

The boys hands were in fists by his sides _What the hell is going on?_

"At least that thing has stopped producing people" the guy said as he sat down on the floor.

"Let's all try and stay calm, why don't we start introducing ourselves, at least until we can figure out what to do" the old man said "Let's start with simple matters. Our names, what we do and our- accidents"

 _Why can't they mind their own fucking business_ the boy thought

"Since I'm obviously the oldest here, I'll go first"

The boy slid down against the balcony doors and pulled his legs to his chest again. This couldn't be happening, why was this happening? _I should be dead, I-I wanted to die._

"My name is Jiro Sama, I am sixty five years old and I'm retired"

 _Well we all figured that out Gramps_

"I'm ex military and I was hit by a truck" the old man then gestured to the guy

"Ryo Ashi, I'm 31 and I was driving a delivery truck, the same one that hit Sama, it tipped over and I went through the wind-shield"

"I'm sorry, it was my fault, my glasses got broken and I must have stumbled into the road" Jiro said guiltily

"Don't sweat it, we're alive aren't we?"

Jiro nodded and then turned to the girl "My name is Yoko Shin, I'm 19 and I started my first year at collage, I have a part time job as a waitress. I was shot in the head by my ex boyfriend"

"Jeez, some boyfriend" Ryo replied

The man took his cue "My name is Sora Tadashi, I'm 42 and I help troubled kids at a large community centre"

 _I'll bet he's paedophile; as long as he stays away from me...I just had to be the fucking youngest here_

"I was run over by a car saving a young boy that had fallen into the road"

"Such a kind and noble man" Jiro complimented

"Thank you"

 _Yeah right_

"What about you young man?" Jiro asked

The boy stares at them, wondering whether to really bother with pleasantries; what was really the point? He just wanted to be left alone, he clearly hadn't accomplished what he wanted, couldn't they at least grant him peace? They continued to stare back at him. He then sighed as he stood up and with much reluctance said "Joichiro Nishi, Eighth grade, fourteen"

"How'd you die?" Ryo asked bluntly

The girl frowned, "Are you kidding me Ashi?"

"What?"

Nishi glared up at him _I wonder if I should just tell him, that oughta shut his big mouth._ He didn't really want these people knowing anything more about him then the basic facts. "I fell"

The room became silent after that. Sora placed a hand on the boys shoulder and said "Don't worry, everything will be ok" Nishi flinched and swatted the hand away

"Don't touch me"

Sora backed off in surprise "I apologise"

"What do we do now then? We're trapped and I don't think there's any food or water here" Yoko said. She thought more on that then she would have liked, why bring them back only to starve them to death?

All of a sudden a loud tune began to play, it seemed to be coming from the ball. They stared at it in surprise; it had been the first time they'd witnessed it do anything but spout people.

"That song, it's from an exercise advertisement isn't it?" Jiro asked

"Yeah, but it sounds way more creepy coming from this then it does on TV" Ryo replied.

"Look" Yoko suddenly said "Something is appearing there" she pointed to the middle of the ball

"What's it saying?"

They stood closer, gathered in a group, except for Nishi who remained stood off to the side. He looked at the ball, his eyes demanding the same explanation as the rest; what the hell was going on?

Ryo began to read out the inscription as it appeared in green obscure lettering. It seemed that some of the letters in the words were appearing backwards, like a mirrored image. "Your previous lives have ended, what you do with your new lives is up to me. So there you have it!?"

Nishi's quiet persona diminished as he took in that little information "What the fuck is that suppose to mean!?"

"Please go out and kill these aliens" they watched as the screen formed another set of information. The image appeared to be a creature, it was grey and had large arms. "The goblins?"

"Kill?" Yoko questioned, her voice shaky

ali3n: The goblins

traits: sm3lly, sh0rt

lik3s: butt3rfli3s

phras3s: you dinn3r now

"It can't be serious right?" Ryo said. Suddenly, three sides of the ball burst open. Everyone in the room- including Nishi- jumped back at the change in the ball's appearance. The group took a tentative few steps forward, they then began to examine the contents in which the ball seem to contain. One side was an assortment of weapons, the second and third contained black cases. "I think it's really serious, there are weapons in here"

Jiro peered over Ryo's shoulder and a small chuckle escaped him "I was in the army for twenty years, I don't recall ever seeing weapons like that"

Nishi didn't pay any mind as to what came from the sides, he was intrigued by something else. Something from within the ball. Yoko stopped studying the weapons and looked over a him. "Are you ok?" she asked. She watched him kneel down with a thoughtful frown upon his face. Yoko moved to stand behind him and then gasped. "It's, there's a person in there"

This information caused the others to turn their attention to her, they then peered around the ball. "She's right! What the hell? What is that? Is it alive? Maybe it's a robot or something?" Ryo said

"It's highly possible, would explain how that ball can communicate with us" Sora replied

"This is getting freakier by the minute"

Sora then picked out a case, he noticed that it had his name printed on the front "I think, these are for us" Sora began handing out the cases as he reeled off their names "Sama, Shin, Ashi, Nishi and- dog?" the group look over at the mutt as they held their cases.

They sat down on the floor, opening up them up they soon realised it's purpose.

"Are these supposed to be suits?" Ryo asked, examining it with disgust

"Do you think, they're for protection?" Yoko said as she too pulled a sour face

Nishi seemed to regard his carefully, while he didn't much like how it looked; he figured it was important, otherwise it wouldn't have his name on it.

"It sort of seems like these were designed specifically for us" Jiro said as he stood up with the suit in full length view. "It's exactly my height and build, it would seem at least"

"No arguments there, I mean there's even one for the dog" Ryo said

"So should we put them on then?" Sora said

"I don't know how real this all is, but until we figure out what's going on; I think we should at least put the suit on just encase" Jiro replied

"I suppose you're right" Yoko said "I mean if you take into account what's happened so far; the guns, the suits, coming back from the dead-" she trailed off at the last part, almost shivering at the thought. "This could quite possibly be true" she picked up a small bulgy hand gun "Even though these things don't look at all real"

"Why don't we take it in turns to change in the hallway, if we really are going to face 'aliens' I don't think we're going to be confined to this room for much longer" Sora said

"The doors are locked man, how are we suppose to get out of this room? We can't even touch the handles on them" Ryo pointed at the balcony doors

Nishi, who had been quiet up until now rolled his eyes and said "We'll probably be materialized somewhere else, the same way we got here"

"Oh, yeah I guess so but-"

"Don't tell me you're questioning everything now" Yoko said

"No, no I suppose that would be stupid" Ryo bundles his suit in his arms "I'll go first" he then disappears through the doorway.

Nishi starts to examine the weapons more closely, they were unlike anything he'd ever seen or read about. Definitely not ordinary guns, they had to be specially designed-he guessed- if they were to fight aliens. How did they even work? That ball was hardly helpful, it's vague instructions pissed him off. Luckily, it would seem, he and the other people with him were the type to read the situation as they saw it. It would seem they were a lot smarter then he first gave them credit for, no one he knew of could ever comprehend any of what they were seeing now. He imagined just how some of the students in his school would react, he almost smiled, that-he would love to see.

Coming back into the room, Ryo was now fully dressed in the leather like material, skin tight and moulded to the shape of his body. An all black design except for what looked to be white air pressure locks attached to the limbs and mid section of the suit. Probably to lock the moulded suit in place to begin with. "Well I changed, but I literally had to take off every piece of clothing I had on, it's damn near tight as hell"

Yoko tensed "Um, every piece of clothing?"

"Yeah, it's kind of oddly comfortable though, at least once it's on"

"Nishi, why don't you go next?" Jiro told him

Nishi didn't reply but made a point to give Sora a dark glare before heading to the hallway with his suit.

"I get the feeling that kid doesn't like me very much" Sora stated. It didn't surprise him all that much, he was used to dealing with troubled teens all the time. At the community centre he worked at, the teens there-the ones he had helped, they had been distrusting of him at first too.

"He's the silent type" Jiro defended

Nishi came back, he was wearing the suit, but had his normal clothes over the top of it.

As soon as everyone had their newly accustomed suit on, they each reached for one of the weapons; noting that a holster was attached to the right pant leg. The small hand gun fit perfectly within the holder. It gave them the opportunity to take advantage of the bigger looking gun. This one's design resembled more of a rifle. It was then they noticed a much smaller device in the holds of the ball. Nishi turned it over in his hands, the others seemingly following his lead. It didn't much look like a weapon, but if the ball was providing it; it had to be important.

"It looks like a GPS or something" Sora said

"You might actually be right" Nishi replied. Sora blinked in surprise, it was the first time he'd actually spoken directly to him

"Is that everything?" Ryo asked

Yoko nodded "I guess so" she looked at Nishi as he placed the device in his blazer.

"So what now?"


	2. Kill to survive

"So what now?" Ryo asked, they were stood in a gathered group, just waiting around for something else peculiar to happen. Just as Nishi had suspected one of their group members began to disappear. It was Jiro to go first. Gasping in panic the rest of the group tensed until they heard a shout from the disappearing body.

"I'm outside!"

"Really!?" Yoko shouted, then she watched as Ryo soon began to vanish from the room.

Ryo grasped at his head, unable to touch it as it faded from the room. One after the other they started to vanish; Yoko was next, then the dog, then Sora then Nishi. After the initial panic of being sent somewhere else wore off, they sighed in relief at the recognition that they were indeed outside. Night had descended, but the streets were brightly illuminated by rows of lights that stood among the pathways. The members had initially been spread out around a large car park, having no idea where their location actually was. "Do we just like, go home now?"

Nishi snorted, he hardly believed it would be that simple; as much as he feared what was going to happen if they really did have fight aliens. He wasn't stupid enough to try and escape, they were brought to that room for this very reason. "Why give us weapons and suits if we could just go home once outside" he finally voice aloud.

"Nishi's right" Jiro said "I don't think it's going to be that easy. Besides, there were many times while in the trenches, soldiers wanted to just up and go home. They couldn't, they didn't have much of a choice, I think the same can only be said for this situation"

Nishi was grateful, that despite how the old man died-making him out to be nothing but a bumbling old fool-he had a lot of experience in combat and his past military training more then made up for his senile appearance. He looked at the others, not much hope of teaming up with them. Ashi was the type of person that was way too much of a realist. While Nishi would have admired that in other circumstances, it wasn't going to help if those aliens came after them and Ashi merely stood there spewing denial facts at them. Then there was Sora, he couldn't really figure out just how the man was really fairing with what had happened; since he didn't say much on his opinions. Despite this, Nishi didn't trust him regardless, his instincts told him there was just something uncouth about him. Nishi looked over at the girl, she was hardly the athletic type, he doubted very much that she had any kind of willingness to kill something if she really had to; shot by her ex boyfriend told him that. Honestly if you were being mistreated like that, leave the fuck or do one better and kill him before it happens to you. Then there was the dog, who knew where the fuck he had gone already. Nishi looked around the immediate area, the mutt was no where to be found. He sighed, so these were suppose to be his team mates? He was so screwed.

"So where are these aliens at then? I don't see them anywhere" Ashi said, they had been standing around for the past five minutes and there was no sign of any kind of hostile creature.

"What about that device thing, the one that looks like a GPS?" Sora asked

"Oh, right- I didn't really-take one"

"I was sort of hoping you did" Sora looked at Yoko and Jiro, they shook their heads. "Oh"

Nishi sighed, was he the only one taking this fully seriously? He was surprised at the old man, he figured he would have at least taken one. _Ah Gramps, you let me down_ he got out the device from his pocket, having been the only one to place his clothes over his suit also. As he clicked the first button on the device, a map showed up on the small screen. _Well what do you know, it really is a GPS_ he noticed the rest gather around him, staring over his shoulder. Nishi pressed another button and the screen zoomed out

"It looks like there's a barrier around the perimeter" Yoko said

"I think we're suppose to avoid crossing that very line" Jiro stated

"What makes you so sure? Maybe that's just the block for the aliens" Ryo said

"It also appears that there's a time limit" Nishi said, pointing to the digital clock in the corner.

"W-what happens when the time runs out?" Sora asked

"Who knows"

"Those yellow points on the map, is that us?" Yoko asked

"It would appear so, those red dots then, must be the aliens" Jiro said

"What!?" Ryo shrieked as he stepped back "So then, this is for real? No bullshitting, we've really gotta fight aliens"

"They're not that far away, I guess we should go then?" Yoko said slowly, she looked at Nishi and he shrugged at her but began to walk in the direction the device was telling him. Since he was the only one that had the GPS, they started to follow his lead.

Nishi thought it was a strange thing for them to do, he was the youngest among them and they were following him like lost sheep. Just what did that say about them? Relying on a teenager for the sake of being safe? So much for team mates Then again, he did have the only device. _They should have been smart enough to fucking grab one then._

The group continued to make their way down the street following Nishi as he trailed the signal. Soon enough, two middle aged women were heading toward them. The group froze, what must they look like? Sora bowed his head slightly "Good evening" he said. The two women didn't bat an eye to them, the group moved aside when it appeared they were going to make no attempt at moving themselves.

"What the hell? That's kind of rude" Ryo said, he jumped back and waved a hand in front of them. "Hey, hello, didn't you hear him?" they watched as the two just carried on walking. "Oh shit. They couldn't see us, they couldn't see us! Fuck, we're really dead aren't we?"

"Why couldn't they see us?" Yoko said "It was like we were invisible"

"It does make sense though" Nishi said

Ryo turned to the boy, his voice hysterical "How? Exactly how does that make sense to you!? You know for a kid, you're pretty calm"

"I was sent to that room the same as you, how I feel about the situation is really only what you're basing your opinions on. I'm trying to figure things out, just like you; except I'm not pissing my pants"

"Are you fucking kidding me? Are you telling me that everything that has happened so far, you're not the least bit scared?"

 _Not that I would tell you, I'm just not whining about it like a little kid_

"Why do you think they couldn't see us?" Yoko asked

"Think of it this way, if nobody has seen any of these so called aliens for how ever long they've been here; they obviously can't be seen. So what makes you think they would see us?"

 _What does that even mean? This kid's logic is pretty bang on but- he kind of freaks me out_ Ryo thought

"It's just a theory really, I know as much as you do"

They started forward again, the clock counting down the minutes. Nishi soon stopped in front of a large building. It looked abandoned. Burnt from the inside out, it was surprising that it was even still standing.

"Didn't this used to be a food factory?" Sora said as they looked up at the building.

"Yeah, I delivered goods here once or twice; apparently due to an electrical fault. There was a fire in the middle of the night, whole place was set ablaze; took three hours to put the damn thing out" Ryo explained

"And now it looks like a home for those Goblins" Nishi said as he looked at the screen.

Yoko peered over his shoulder "They're-inside?"

"Appears so"

"I'll go in first" Jiro said, hoisting his gun at the correct position

"You don't have to" Yoko said, grabbing his arm

"The elders protect the young miss Shin" Jiro said with a smile

"Wait-" they turn their attention to Ryo "I'll, I'll go with you"

"Are you sure?"

"Someone has to watch your back"

"All right then"

Jiro and Ryo left to investigate the inside of the old factory, leaving Nishi, Sora and Yoko standing outside.

"This is really nerve racking, I feel a little vulnerable standing out in the open like this" Sora said

"Then why don't you go in? I thought it was Ashi that was the wimp of the group. I guess I was wrong" Nishi said

 _What's with this kid?_ Sora thought "I- I just, I thought my place was out here; making sure nothing bad happens to you two. I protect kids"

"Of course you do"

"Well I do, I help troubled kids get back on their feet; I've even helped them to become better citizens"

Nishi let out a short laugh, Sora frowned, it was as if the boy branded him a complete liar; just what was it he really thought that he did?

"It's pretty quiet, do you think they've- found anything?" Yoko said. Just as the words left her mouth they heard a short scream followed by a loud explosion which caused a hole to blow open in the bottom wall. Yoko's scream was immediately drowned out by another hole being blown open on the opposite side.

"What's happening!?" Sora shouted

As they stared at the building, silence descended for a moment. The suspense was practically killing them, considering they were literally wondering whether they'd soon be killed by the aliens. It seemed like a likely scenario that would happen judging by the screams that they had just heard. Nishi's hand shook lightly as it hovered over the gun at his holster. He didn't see fit in taking the larger weapon that had been provided by the ball. It would seem that carrying the rifle gun might have had it's downside. Whether he thought it would slow him down or some other reason entirely.

"Oh god look!" Yoko shouted, snapping them out of whatever it was they had all been currently thinking. It was then they saw it, in all it's terrifying glory. It looked exactly like what the black sphere had shown them. "It's coming toward us!" the goblin ran and jumped, ricocheting off of the walls along side the factory.

"What do we do!?" Sora shouted, his hands white knuckled as he gripped the rifle.

Nishi's breathing became heavier, the closer it got to them, the more he was becoming frantic. While he couldn't argue with the logic that he had to kill the ascending creature before it could kill him. It was the actual concept of the killing that had him hesitating. As much as he often thought about killing many of the students in his class or the many people he had come across in his life. The fact was he had _never_ killed someone before, or shot them, or delivered any kind of fatal blow. In the one moment, it was then he realised something; he wanted to live. He didn't want to die, at least, not like this. His fate was his alone to chose, not some giant black ball. Either way, the fact was that he _didn't_ want to die.

The goblin was just inches from them now, and while Nishi and Yoko had the sense to at least move out of the way of it's path-at least until they had a better opportunity to shoot it- Sora had not. He was frozen on his feet, despite the gun still held tightly in his grip.

"Shoot it!" Nishi shouted

"Sora! Move out of the way!" Yoko yelled after as she ran toward the alien.

 _There's no point, you're too far away, he's practically a dead man_ Nishi thought

Sora clenched his eyes shut, waiting for the initial impact. The next moment was something neither of them expected. The alien swelled and it's body suddenly split in half, blood gushed out from every angle of its torso. Splattering the grey ground of the parking area with blue. The blood splashed up against Sora's suit, his eyes almost bugging out. "What...happened?"

Yoko shook at the sight, blood, there was so much blood. She was positive she never saw Sora even raise the gun that by now had clattered to the ground. He was so appalled by the scene that all determination had completely left him. He dropped to his knees, slicking in the pool of blood on the ground that had gathered around the two halves of the alien. Yoko turned round, her initial forethought was to immediately assume the shot had come from Nishi. As she stared at him, that clearly wasn't the case, he seemed just as surprised as the rest of them. There was no indication that he had even attempted to shoot. To confirm her second thought, she looked down, his gun was still in his holster.

Nishi let out an exhale of breath, his body shaking, though he felt no fear from the horrific scene that had played out before them. Wasn't there something very wrong with that? He was slightly annoyed with himself that he hadn't been able to gather the courage to shoot the alien when it had first been coming for him. The next question was who exactly _did_ shoot it? He spun around. Just a few feet away from where they stood, Jiro was stood there, rifle gun poised in his hands.

 _Shit_

he genuinely hadn't really expected it to be the old man, but he figured his way of thinking was similar to his own. Though whereas Nishi's initial thinking was either kill the alien or be killed, Jiro seemed to contempt with the idea that it was kill the alien to protect others. Did that make him a bad person? And why wouldn't you think of yourself first in a situation-as strange as it was-like this? It wasn't as if he owed this people anything, he didn't know them and nobody in the _real_ world ever did anything for him.

"Everyone all right!?" Jiro said, he looked unharmed. "The guns, have some kind of time lag" his breath catching in his throat as he ran toward them. Though he looked unharmed, there was blood matting the little hair he had left. They knew it couldn't be the alien's, considering the color that was sprayed across the ground and part of Sora's suit.

"W-where's...Ashi?" Yoko asked. Jiro's eyes betrayed his blank and calm features, Yoko didn't need any kind of confirmation. She covered her mouth with one hand. "No"

"It just- the strength and-it was too fast, he was" Though Jiro didn't finish his sentence, he didn't need to.

Nishi had no attachment to the man-that they seemed to be mourning, then again, neither did they. So he wondered why the hell they were even doing so. His attention was more on the fact that the alien was now dead, so what was suppose to happen now?

"You killed it. You killed the alien that the ball told us about; what's suppose to happen now?" Sora shuffled over to them, still in a daze over what had transpired.

Nishi removed the device once again from his pocket, Yoko looked over at him, his expression told her it wasn't over yet. She didn't quite know how she could tell that, but judging by the way his face contorted with a thoughtful frown-yet his eyes were wide with what might be fear- something told her there was more. "There's another" he said bluntly, Yoko admired his bravery, considering everything that was happening; he made no protests of anguish nor did he display any kind of emotional evidence that he may break down.

"I- but that ball only showed one alien!" Yoko said

"This wasn't the only alien in the factory I'm afraid; there were three" Jiro gestured to the split goblin on the ground "This was the third"

Jesus, the old man was just as calm as Nishi was. Then again, he had been faced with possible death for a long period of time while in the army; no matter how long it had been. It seemed like you didn't forget, like Jiro just wormed his way back in the fray of war, like it was second nature; a natural instinct. She suddenly felt safe.

"There it is!" Sora suddenly bellowed. They looked up, there first thought was how much different the alien looked compared to that of the one they'd just seen blow up. It jumped from the wall it had been standing on; the ground rumbled as he impacted the pavement with his feet. Given how much larger it was, the alien was incredibly fast. He raced toward them with no hesitation on his part.

"Fuck!" Nishi's calm demeanour failed, he'd been relatively placid up until now, at least what he had shown to the rest of the group. The larger alien seemed to have startled him out of his former emotionless attitude.

It jumped up into the air and they watched with fear as it soon landed in front of them. Nishi didn't hesitate to pull his gun from it's holder this time. There was no time think about his would be conscience, if he even had one, which he supposed he did; to a certain degree at least. "We have to shoot! We have to!" Yoko shouted. Nishi didn't need to be told twice, and he knew that the old man had no qualms in shooting to kill; whether it was meant to be as protection for them or not. Yoko and Nishi raised their guns toward the alien towering over them. Nishi looked at the small screen that was in front of him, just at the butt of the gun. What it displayed puzzled him for a moment. It was as if he could see the whole of the insides of the alien. An x-ray to be more accurate, like it was showing him all the pinpoints of where to shoot. He wondered whether the old man had seen something similar on his weapon. "It's not working!" Yoko's voice tore his attention away from the gun.

The sound of the sudden scream of the alien caused them to momentarily cover their ears. Once it had stopped Jiro aimed his rifle, he wanted this to end, he needed this to end. His wife, he couldn't leave her. "Mine had two triggers" he shouted to the others.

Nishi then noticed that there was indeed two triggers on his own weapon. Before he could try to use his weapon, Yoko let out a scream as the large goblin's arm made a grab for them. While his, Yoko's and Jiro's immediate reaction was to jump away from it, again Sora did nothing to save himself. He let out a pierced scream as the alien wrapped both of it's arms around Sora's body. "No!" Yoko yelled. Sora continued to scream when the sound of the first lot of bones began to crack.

"Tadashi!" Jiro shouted, gun raised to fire; he stilled his movements though.

Nishi knew the reason behind Jiro's hesitation, it was obvious to anyone. He didn't understand it though, the guy was going to die anyway, regardless of whether they got the thing off him. They'd all heard it, the sound of those bones crunching the moment that alien had grabbed him. Nishi raised his own weapon, in theory, he was probably doing the man a favour. No way he would last much longer after the first attack was done, if he survived that to begin with.

Yoko turned to Nishi, clearly noting what he was thinking and what he intended to do. "You can't shoot now! Tadashi is-"

"Already dead, I know it, you know it. Come on! We're all thinking it!"

"Somebody get him off me!" Sora managed to scream, his body constricted; giving way as more of his bones crunched from the tightness.

"If we don't shoot now, that's going to be us!" Nishi shouted before pulling both triggers.

"No don't!" Yoko said, it was too late, Nishi had already fired the weapon. They waited for the time lag that Jiro had told them about to finish. The alien suddenly cried out as his arm swelled and exploded. Though he had missed his intended target, which had been the torso. He had unintentionally gotten Sora out of the alien's grip. Sora collapsed in a heap on the ground, twitching and writhing in agony. Even though it's arm was completely blown off from it's body, the alien soon turned his attention to the others. Losing interest in the crumpled body on the ground.

"Shit" Nishi muttered, he had thought that by shooting without regard for Sora's well being, he could end the alien in one hit. His aim however was a little off, and it was obvious that blowing up just his arm wasn't going to slow him down; whether it had been his intended target or not. He also noticed that the alien was looking right at him, like it knew who had shot him. Jiro and Yoko moved so that they were standing just in front of Nishi. Their guns aimed. "I won't die" Nishi said quietly, turning his gaze to the ground for a second. He then looked up as the alien bounded over, having knocked both Jiro and Yoko off their feet. Eyes wide as it drew near to him, he could end it right now or he could just move out of the way. He'd already dealt a massive blow to the alien's arm, causing it to completely tear off. He also hadn't much concern when he was willing to kill another person to save them. Or himself, he still was unclear about that part. But right now, if he didn't finish this alien off, it was him that was going to die. "I won't die!" he repeated more loudly. His gun raised, determination slamming him full force, he pulled the trigger not once, but four times.

"Nishi!" Yoko shouted as they watched the alien use his only other arm to throw Nishi off his feet. The boy skidded to ground with a thwack, his gun slipped from his hand in the process. Yoko and Jiro ran toward the alien that was still heading for Nishi. "Nishi we're coming!"

Nishi felt around behind him for his gun, he could have sworn that he had hit the alien. He had to have done damage, no way he had fired four shots and missed every single time. He wasn't a skilled guns-man, in fact, he had never fired a real gun until now, or even held one for that matter. "Come on...explode already" he willed. The goblin raised it's arm.

"Nishi!" Jiro called, they were still a few paces away

Within inches from Nishi the goblin stopped and its head blew up, as well as his other arm. Blood splattered across the ground and sprayed up the boy's body and across his face; coating his blazer in the blue blood of the alien. The rest of it's body fell with a squelch to the ground in the puddle of fluid. Yoko stared in horror, frozen in place; she had never seen so much death in real life. She thought this type of horror only existed in the movies that she actually secretly loved to watch. She looked down at Nishi, at least happy to see he was as shocked as the rest of them. Though she couldn't tell whether it was because he just killed someone-or something- or because he had nearly just died, again.

Jiro walked forward, extending his hand toward Nishi. "Well done lad. Are you all right?"

Nishi tried to take control of his rapid breathing, he shakily reached his hand for Jiro's. Jiro grasped it and pulled him to his feet.

 _Well done?_ Yoko thought as she finally registered what the old man had just said. It was true what she had assumed, Jiro was already back in that military mind set. But military or not, you don't encourage that kind of thing, it wasn't a congratulations moment; Nishi wasn't one of his damn soldiers. He was a fourteen year old kid. She suddenly felt her legs buckle, just what had they done? What was going on? She collapsed on her knees.

Jiro and Nishi look her way, the kind expression was back on Jiro's face as he made his way toward her. She shook as she held back her tears, looking up at him through blurred vision. "A-Ashi..." she then looked to the other body of their group, he didn't appear to be moving any more "And-and Sora..."

As Yoko continued to sob, casting her head down, tears finally falling from her face; Jiro's eyes glanced up as he felt his head tingle and then begin to disappear. She heard a small gasp and looked up in time to see the rest of his legs disappear. "We're being sent somewhere else" Nishi said as he picked off a small piece of the alien's skin from his shoulder. Yoko grimaced at that, Nishi gave her a small amused smile. While he didn't seem fazed about the amount of blood he was coated in, his eyes told her he was-scared? Maybe. In an instant he too began to disappear, she grabbed for his hand and then it was her turn.

When she opened her eyes again, she recognised her surroundings. "We're back" she saw Nishi and Jiro standing beside her . They were back, in the very room they had started in. She noticed all the blood from Nishi's blazer had completely gone. "We made it, we- we did it"

"Not all of us made it" Jiro then stated sadly

Yoko looked at the wooden floor, realizing that Jiro was right. It was then they watched as four paws began to appear before them.

Nishi rolled his eyes, just where the hell was he in all of that?

Soon enough, another person began to appear in the room. "Someone else made it!" Yoko shouted in excitement.

Ryo blinked as he realised he was back in the room. He shakily inspected his body, feeling around for any injuries, he was sure that one of his legs was missing. "I'm alive?"

"Ashi! You made it!" Jiro said happily "I- thought you were-"

"Me too, whoa..."

"Seems like whatever happens during the course of the mission, those who remain alive are transferred back to this room" Nishi stated as a matter of fact; like he already figured everything out.

"Mission?" Yoko said

Nishi shrugged "Seemed like a good name for whatever just happened"

"Well shit..." Ryo breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm not going to complain"

"Any sign of Sora?" Yoko said, they waited a moment, sure that he would be next to appear.

"He's not coming?" Ryo said

 _Like that's a big loss, it probably did everyone a favour._ Nishi turned to the ball "Hey! What now? We killed them, we killed those aliens"

The timer that showed in large green digital numbers reached zero and it pinged. Writing soon appeared in place of the clock. They stared in confusion at what was displayed next.

0k h3r3 ar3 y0ur skor35

old man: 6 points

94 mor3 and you'r3

I'm surpris3d to s33 you aliv3, und3r3stimation on my part

"It's giving us scores? Does that mean we have to do it again?" Ryo said

"Old man? Guess that's me" Jiro said with a chuckle

horny dog: 0 points

wand3rs 0ff a l0t, d0 som3thing alr3ady

"Just how is a dog meant to kill anyway" Yoko said

Nishi grinned at her "Ever seen Cujo?"

Yoko looked at him blankly and then she remembered that she had in fact, seen that film and realised what he meant. They looked back at the ball.

Nishi-kun: 10 points

90 mor3 and you'r3 don3

swears a lot, likes too much gore

"What the hell does that mean?" Nishi said with agitation

flat ch3st: 0 points –

scr3ams too loudly, sp3nds way too much time r3lying on p3opl3 and looking at Nishi-kun- ha ha p3rv

"Flat chest!?" Yoko cried and then clocked onto the other name "Perv? I don't...stare, I'm not like that" Nishi glared at her, while he had laid claim that Sora was the paedophile among them; it turned out to be the girl. It didn't bother him almost as much though, he wondered if it was because there was less of an age gap and that she was- a female.

Ryo suddenly burst out laughing "Flat chest!" his laugh was hysterical "That's awesome!"

"I'm so embarrassed" Yoko was more then grateful that Ryo decided to comment on her chest remark, rather then the latter.

Hippy: 4 points –

96 mor3 and You'r3 don3

Zones out, whin3s too much

"Hippy? Just because of the way I talk?"

"So do you think we can go home now?" Yoko asked as the ball's information faded.


	3. Normality

Nishi's footsteps echoed in the empty street, his suit gone-left back in the room along with their weapons. It was hard to tell whether the events of the previous few hours had even happened. He turned a corner onto a familiar street, he had walked down this path so many times before. This time felt different, like something was tugging him back, pulling him; willing him to stop. Despite this, he carried on, ignoring that subconscious feeling. He briefly wondered what had happened between the time he had jumped and the time he had walked out of that room. If he really was alive, then did that mean no one had noticed that he'd jumped? Did that mean just moments after he had struck the ground, the black ball had brought him back? Though he was positive that it had been daylight when he was standing on the roof. There were so many questions unanswered, he didn't have the energy to solve them all tonight. He stood before the door of his house, he couldn't remember what time it was now but there was no doubt in his mind that his mother would be worried. He side stepped from the door to peek inside the window.

His mother was sat on their red couch, she had tissue bundled in her hand and she seemed to be on the phone. He strained his hearing, her voice was muffled by her sobs but he could pick up some of what she was saying. "Please, just check around again-no I don't-he's never not come home- it's almost two in the morning!" well that confirmed his question of the time. It wasn't all that hard to figure out the one sided conversation, she was obviously on the phone to the police. It was then he spotted his dad walking into the living room. Nishi ducked a little from the window when his dad turned in his general direction. He sneered at the glass of what he assumed was whisky, watching his expression, he didn't look all that bothered about his 'missing' son. No surprise there.

"Stop worrying Emiko" His dad's voice was clearer since he was closer. "He's probably just at a friend's or something, lost track of time" Nishi rolled his eyes, it was obvious his dad didn't know him very well, never really had. Nishi didn't have 'friends' he couldn't bring himself to associate with any of his classmates, nothing but shallow, mindless, spiteful hypocrites. "No real reason to get the cops involved yet" another whisky down, another one poured.

"How can you say that!? Don't you know him at all? Do you have any idea what our son goes through almost everyday at that school? Of course you don't. What if something has happened to him!?"

Was that what she thought? That something had happened as a result of his bullies? There was never a foul thought in her head for him, it had not even occurred to her that he would take his own life. But he had. Nishi was suddenly slammed with guilt, it was a rare feeling for him and he suddenly wanted to walk through that door and assure her that he was ok. Only thanks to the ball was he alive right now, only thanks to the ball had he reconsidered his tragic thoughts of suicide. He raised his hand to knock and suddenly stopped. The night played through his mind, the blood, the aliens...what he had done to survive this night. His hands were tainted, how could he possibly look his mother in the eyes after what he had done? His hand dropped to his side and curled into a fist. He couldn't do it, he couldn't come home, he just couldn't. How could he go in there and reassure her that he was ok, knowing, knowing that he could be transferred back to that room at any point and have her worry for him all over again. He did not want to go back to her, not yet, not until it was all over...

"What do you think it means by-95 to go and you're done?" Yoko said, it was a fair question, one that they were all thinking.

"Maybe something happens once you reach a hundred points" Ryo said

Nishi walked forward and knelt in front of the ball "Hey! What happens when you reach one hundred points?" Nothing happened, the ball remained blank

"What if- what if we just, you know; die?" Ryo said

"You think so?" Yoko said, suddenly feeling more terrified then she was when facing the aliens "But, what is the point of this if we're just going to die when we get to a hundred?"

"We're just doomed to die I guess"

"How the hell can you say that and be so calm!?"

"Everyone calm down, I'm sure there's another explanation" Jiro said

Nishi sighed and slapped a hand on top of the ball "We know you can communicate somehow, what happens at a hundred points, tell us!" suddenly, the black ball began to display writing

"Look! It hears us, it's going to tell us" Yoko said, almost excitedly

In it's obscure font dialect, the ball began to display their answers

100 points menu:

1 – M3mory is wip3d and you go fr33

2 – r3c3iv3 a b3tt3r w3apon

3 – r3viv3 a d3ad play3r

"It would seem we get to choose from those options" Jiro said

"It says revive a dead player, what does that mean exactly?" Ryo said

"Sora died tonight, maybe it means that we can bring him back" Yoko replied

Nishi laughed, "Why would we want to do that? It's not like he was any help to us"

"Don't be so cold"

"I'm just saying, if you had the chance to go free or revive a dead player; what exactly would you do?" Yoko almost looked embarrassed, Nishi snorted, as though he knew that she would pick to go free. "Just as I thought"

"I suppose that reviving a dead player won't help them much anyway. I mean, they'll still be part of this ball and they might die again..."

"Wow, you're optimistic" Ryo scolded

Yoko frowned and placed her hands on her "You know what I mean!" she then sighed and looked at the ball again, her arms dropping by her side "So we have to stay alive long enough to receive a hundred points, that's really the only way out of this"

Jiro placed a hand on Yoko's shoulder "Then we best make sure no one else dies" she smiled at him and nodded "I believe we can all reach those points, together"

Nishi didn't look convinced, he glanced at the ball that had now returned to it's original appearance. He had gained the most points out of their group because he had killed the last alien. Only by doing so had he accumulated that many in one hit. It seemed as though the stronger 'boss' alien was worth the most. Jiro had gained six points because he had killed two of the smaller ones. Ashi had killed one of them and gained three. While the smaller ones were worth three points each, the boss had a higher points gain of ten. To gain the most, he had to kill the boss every time. Nishi briefly wondered whether he would have even made it had it not been for the rest of the group. Jiro seemed to be the only remotely useful in that mission, while he knew he couldn't rely on him or any of these people all the time, they were-for now- his best hope for survival. Until he could gain enough knowledge on the weapons and technology provided by the ball, he had to-Nishi grimaced-work on par with his 'team'

 _I can't come home, not until I reach a hundred points, I'm sorry mother._ Nishi took one last look at her and ran from the house. He continued to run, with no destination in mind, he just wanted to run; distancing himself as far from his house as possible. The tears in his eyes began to cloud his vision and he started to slow his pace. He stumbled to a stop, lifting his hand to cling to a stair railing that led to an underground subway. Out of breath, Nishi collapsed beside the outside of the wall. "Damn it" he punched the ground in anger "Why couldn't you just let me die!"

Jiro smiled from across the garden at his wife; she had been frantic when he had returned home so late the night before. She smiled back at him, just happy to have him home.

"I'm home" Jiro called as he stepped through the house, he was immediately engulfed in a hug, his wife looked at him with tears streaming down her face.

"Where on earth have you been Jiro-chan, I've been so worried!"

Jiro smiled down sadly at her, then kissed her forehead "I'm sorry dear" he then smiled brightly, his hand scratching the back of his head. "I- got on the wrong bus" he let out a small chuckle.

She relaxed in his arms and shook her head with a smile "You're such a silly old fruit, but I'm so glad you're safe" Jiro nodded and embraced her, relieved that he was able to do that because he had survived. "Dear?"

"Hmm?"

"Where are the groceries?"

Jiro watched her pull out a bunch of weeds from the corner of their garden. During the war, there was always that possibility that he may not come home, she understood that; constantly wondering whether she would receive a telegram to inform her that he had been killed in action. Then was to be expected, but now there was no war. He could not tell her anything about what happened, she would surely think he had gone mad. They had all agreed not to tell anyone about what they had experienced, simply for that very reason. He just didn't know how long he could keep lying to her about his disappearance every time. Those times in the war were agonising, for both the soldier and the loved ones waiting at home. He didn't want to upset her or frighten her with fear that one night in that room, he may not make it.

Yoko grabbed her keys from the kitchen side, memories of last night's gruesome escapade fresh in her mind. It didn't seem real to her now that it was all over, but she had to face the fact that it _was_ real. What was she suppose to do now?live her life like nothing happened until a night came and she was sent back to that room? She briefly wondered whether or not her ex boyfriend really thought she was dead, what exactly was she suppose to say if he saw her walking about in the streets-alive and well- no less. She closed the door behind her and walked out of her apartment building, making her way down the steps; she got into her small car and backed out of the parking space onto the busy road.

 _Why did this happen? What the hell is that black ball anyway? Is this really all some kind of alien technology sent from somewhere in space? If I really am alive, how is this better then the life I had before? Have I really been saved?_

A loud horn sounded from behind her, snapping her out of her thoughts. She realised that the traffic lights in front had already turned green. "Shit" she continued to drive toward her destination, it was the only thing that signified as what was real in her life. She turned into a car park that was bustling with other people vacating theirs. Yoko got out of the car and took a deep breath and smiled. The moment she saw her college building, she felt at ease, as if nothing else mattered in the world. As though she didn't just get killed by her ex boyfriend, as though she didn't get brought back to life by a giant black ball; as though she didn't have to kill vicious aliens in order to survive. What mattered was now, this moment, this day; Yoko locked up her car and headed toward the building. "I'm going to live my life, no matter what, this is a brand new start"

Yoko smiled brightly when a familiar person began running toward her, waving happily. "Shin! Hey!" it was her best friend, Yui Kazumi. She stopped just in front of her, panting from the short run. Her friend wasn't very athletic and was just shy of being a bit plump. "Did you see the news last night? That big explosion near Tokyo tower? Apparently a truck overturned with a butt load of c02 canisters"

Yoko stilled for a moment, she had forgotten about that, or rather, she didn't want to think about it. "Um, not really" she lied

"Really? Its all over the news" Yoko smiled, her friend was always obsessive with the latest talk of the day or week, if anyone wanted to know the latest news of any kind; Yui would be the one to ask. She knew her friend would make a great reporter someday. "Did you go to bed early or what?"

 _Not exactly, I sort of died, you know how it is._ Like she could tell her that. "I-had another fight with my boyfriend, ex-boyfriend that is"

Yui rolled her eyes, she snorted as her and Yoko made their way into the school. Since their lockers were next to each other, Yui then continued "So is it over this time?"

"Of course! I would never go back to someone that killed me! I'm totally over him"

"Excuse me?"

Yoko then realised her mistake and fumbled over her words "My heart!" she blurted out "Killed my heart, just stomped on it, over and over"

"Good, you deserve way better then him, I did tell you that from the start" Yui shut her locker and her eyes widened when she looked at her watch. "I've got to get to class! I'll meet you here for lunch" Yui ran down the corridor, leaving Yoko alone.

Yoko closed her own locker and gently laid her head on the door. "Killed my heart" she repeated her own words "That was so lame"

Ryo walked through the door of his apartment, for some reason he expected the black ball to be sitting in the middle of his living room. He sighed in relief when he didn't see it anywhere. He stared around the apartment, old coffee cups scattered about on coasters, left over pizza box from the night before. Yeah, he wasn't exactly living the high life. He looked down and stroked the dog that was laying on the couch, at least he wasn't alone now. He had taken it upon himself to look after the dog, bringing it back home with him, it was good company after all. The important thing was that he was alive, from sheer luck-or was it unluckiness?-given why and how he was brought back; and he wasn't fired.

Ryo was stood in the work's office with a bored expression as his boss continued to yell at him for his 'recklessness' there wasn't a shroud of concern for his well being. "Do you know how much all that stuff is gonna cost me!?"

It always came down to money, that's all it ever was "I'm fine by the way, thanks for asking" Ryo said

"I should fire you on the spot!"

"Then I'm outta here"

"But I wont, just because I'm under staffed, not because I'm nice" Ryo took the key back from his boss "Don't fuck it up any more! Now Get out" Ryo snorted and muttered some obscenities as he headed for the exit "What was that!?"

"Nothing"

"It better not have been, now get your ass moving; that truck load won't get there itself"

 _What a fucking dick_ Ryo walked out of the office and into where the next delivery truck was parked. The dog sat happily in the passenger seat, excited to go on a journey. "I wish I was a dog"

Ryo sighed, he thought he was going to get fired for sure. He slumped against the couch and looked around his dirty apartment. "I should just move, man, no wonder I'm single" he grabbed the remote and turned on the television.

~ -middle aged man died while saving a young boy from being hit by a car ~

Ryo sat up suddenly when the man in question's picture popped up on the screen. "It's Sora!"

~ The distraught mother of the child reported the incident to the police, but they have no leads to the driver responsible for the hit and run ~

"I was-I just saw him...then, I guess he's really dead for real now"

~ The man, who has been identified as Sora Tadashi worked in a community centre among troubled kids. It seemed as though Mr Tadashi was a local hero, saving many teens and kids from the streets. This apparently isn't the case ~

"Huh?"

~ Many of those who lived in the community centre have come forward with claims of sexual abuse from the man who had allegedly saved them ~

"Oh come on!"

~ Two girls age fifteen and a boy of thirteen claimed that he forced sex on them and threatened to throw them back on the streets should they report anything to the police ~

"Are you kidding me? But- but he seemed so-nice" Ryo switched the television off again. "Well, I sure as hell ain't gonna wish his ass back, not that I was really going to anyway; but I won't feel bad about it now"

Nishi paused the computer screen and sat back in his chair with a sigh "I knew it" he was currently inside the city's library, he knew no one would recognise him here and he was free to come and go as he pleased. He tore his tired eyes away from the screen to the clock on the wall, 19:00. He hadn't slept at all the night before since he hadn't found another place to stay. He couldn't use his emergency card for fear that the police would trace it, he wasn't ready to be found yet. He needed to remain low key, he was sure that in a few days, the police would be sending out search parties upon his mother's request. So he assumed at least, if he knew his mother well enough-which he did, that would be exactly what she would do.

"We're closing now" the man told him as he walked passed, stopping at the light switches on the far wall.

Nishi got up and left the building without a word, the building darkening as he stepped outside. He checked his wallet that had been with him, there was enough cash to at least grant him a couple of nights in a motel. Although judging by how much cash, it wasn't going to be a luxurious stay. He cursed under his breath, wondering if he was making the right decision; hiding himself away from the one person who loved him. But it was for her that he was doing all this in the first place.

Three days later...

Yoko smiled as she parked her car at her local grocery store. She had actually been having a great week, she didn't even think about the black ball or how it was going to effect her life. She carried on with her daily life at college, laughing and joking about and then happily attended her part time job with Yui.

She entered the store, grabbing a basket on the way in. She always did her shopping around this time since it wasn't all that busy. She walked down the first isle, browsing through the different kinds of fruit and veg; silently debating whether or not to make a stir fry. She placed some onions, beans, carrots and peppers in the basket. Wandering down the second isle she grabbed some rice and noodle packets. As she turned on her heel, she bumped into someone who had been browsing the shelf labels. The tin in his hand fell to the floor and she jumped back with an apologetic bow. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention I-" she looked up into a familiar face. "Ashi?"

"Hey!" he greeted back as he picked up the tin that he had dropped. "I didn't know you shopped here"

"My apartment isn't that far from here" she replied and they continued to walk together down the next isle. "Do you live locally?"

"Not really, I just prefer this one, it's got a better selection"

"It's funny how we never noticed one another before"

"We might have done, just passers by I guess"

Yoko smiled and then said "Well, I've got all I needed, so I guess I'll see you-soon"

"Wait" Ryo called before she could leave "I've just gotta get some dog food and I'm done, do you wanna get a drink or something?"

Yoko thought about it, while the drink sounded good-and it would be nice to talk with someone who knew her situation-she shook her head. "Sorry, I'm pretty tired from college actually. Maybe next time?"

"It's cool, I forgot you like the younger ones" Ryo laughed

Yoko frowned "That's not funny!"

"I was joking, honestly. But did you see the news about Sora?"

"No?"

"Well they were talking about how he died saving that kid he told us about"

"Really? So then, he really is dead?" she was surprised that her friend hadn't said anything about it.

"For real now. But that's not the disturbing part" Yoko gave him a sceptical look "Turns out, that he was actually sexually abusing some of the kids he helped"

"No way!" Yoko couldn't believe it, that time that they spent with him-while only short, he never came across as someone who would do that. She genuinely thought he was a nice guy. _Come to think of it, Nishi didn't really trust him from the start, I guess his instincts were far better then ours._ "So did they find evidence?"

"Don't know, but several kids made statements as soon as they found out he was killed"

"But- but he died a hero"

"Not sure whether that really justified his actions"

"No, I guess not"

"Well, I'll see you soon Shin"

"Hopefully not too soon" She smiled, he knew what she was referring to.

Ryo laughed "Same here"

They parted ways and Yoko walked to one of the registers to pay for her items. Nishi was at the forefront of her thoughts, she wondered how he was handling his daily life knowing that they could be be sent to that room at any time. The cashier rang up the last item and said "4000Yen"

Yoko blinked and realised that the cashier had spoken "Sorry, what?"

"I said 4000Yen, sheesh, there is a queue ya know" the woman looked like she wanted to kill her.

"Sorry, I spaced out for a moment there" Yoko took the cash out of her purse and handed it to the woman with a smile. She then bundled her groceries in her arms and muttered "Old hag" as she left the register and walked out of the store.

She placed the groceries in the boot of her car, when she slammed it shut she yelped. A man with baggy clothes and missing teeth was standing beside her. He was clearly homeless, if the smell was anything to go by. Shaggy looking hair and holes in his shoes. "Do you have spare change?"

"N-no, sorry"

"Sorry to bother you then"

She watched him walk away and placed her hand on her chest, coming down from her scare. "Damn" she quickly got into her car when she noticed that it was getting dark.

Nishi made his way up the steps of the small motel he was staying at. It wasn't the greatest of places for a fourteen year old to stay, but the owner never asked his business and Nishi was going to make sure it stayed that way. There weren't many people staying in the rooms, at least not that he had seen. The ones he had seen didn't question or even really glance at him. "Yo, kid!" a male voice called from below the steps. Nishi turned and looked down, he hadn't seen the man around before.

"What?"

"Got a light?"

"No" Nishi turned to walked the rest of the steps and the man called again

"Come on! I know you types of kids smoke"

Types of kids? Nishi turned to the man again, hands in his school pants. He had washed them in the motel's laundry room, but sooner or later, he was going to have to find some other clothes; especially if he wanted to remain hidden from people that might recognise him. "What 'type of kid' am I suppose to be exactly?"

"Ya know, typical hoodlum trouble maker; high school drop out"

Nishi's fists clenched within his pockets. "Maybe you should ask yourself what kind of 'man' you are. Lurking at a motel in the middle of the night, trying to bum a smoke off a kid," Nishi noticed how badly he was dressed, shoelaces untied, shirt buttoned wrong and pants scuffed. "And obviously with something to hide"

"What!?"

"The way you're dressed indicates there's something going on that shouldn't be. Hurrying off to be back somewhere? I bet you're having an affair right?"

"You-little-brat!"

Nishi laughed "I was just guessing, but it seems that I'm right" Nishi walked the last of the steps, his hands still clenched in his pockets. The man stared after him and then continued on his way.

Nishi watched him go from the shadows of the wall, he extended his arm out and pointed his index finger and thumb. "Bang" he whispered, only wishing he had that gun he had used on the alien.


	4. Gantz

Ryo sighed as his vision came into focus on a familiar room, he glanced to his right and smiled when the dog appeared beside him. Luck must have been on his side that he wasn't making any deliveries at the time of his disappearance. He looked over at the black ball, was this his life now? Getting called to this room every so often in the middle of the night? A moment later, Ryo watched as his team began to appear in the room with him. "Hey old man, how's it going?" he greeted Jiro as the old man appeared.

Jiro smiled a greeting "Fine thank you, how about you?"

Ryo gave him a thumbs up "Can't complain too much, I didn't lose my job at least"

"That's good, after all, it was my fault that you're here"

"I told you not to worry about that"

Soon Yoko appeared in the room, she waved over at them and said "Hi, it's nice to see you both" they smiled in reply, she bent down and slapped her thighs "Hi puppy!" the dog bounded over to her and she tickled his head and he licked her face. "I'm happy to see you too"

"That's disgusting" Yoko looked up and Nishi was stood beside her, she stood up-still stroking the dog. "You know a mutt washes himself right?"

Yoko huffed "It's just affection, it doesn't have a disease"

"That you know of"

The group were silent for a moment "So" Ryo began "You think it's going to be just us?"

"I'm not sure" Jiro replied

"Well I've been thinking, black ball sounds kind of boring, maybe we should name it"

Yoko looked at him with a raised eyebrow and said "You want to name the ball?"

"Why not? It is sort of a big part of our lives at the moment"

Nishi placed his hands in his dark red hoodie, he looked over at the ball and said "I agree"

Ryo was surprised "You do?"

"I know, surprised me as well"

"Ok, so what should we name it then?"

"There are rumors that government organizations hide advanced technology from their countries. Some of which are so sophisticated, they might actually be 'alien'"

Ryo snorted "Come on! You seriously think the government is behind this?"

"I didn't actually say that now did I? it would explain a lot though"

"You're just riling me up, there's no way our government is behind this; it's too...irrational"

"They have done some pretty wild things"

"Stop it, they can't...it's just not possible. It's too out there, besides, nobody can see us while we're fighting those aliens and more to the point; no one has seen the aliens either"

Jiro walked in between the two before anything could escalate into an argument "While there might be a chance that both of you are right, we should focus on trying to survive, in order to do that, we need to work together"

Yoko nodded "He's right, to be honest, I don't think we'll ever truly know what's going on or how this happened at all"

Ryo scowled at her "That doesn't bother you?"

"Actually, yes it bothers me, but staying alive is more important to me. If I really can be free if I reach a hundred points, then what does it matter?"

Ryo sighed "I suppose you're right. Still think it needs a name though" he looked up with his arms folded, as if the ceiling was going to give him the answer. "Gantz, that sort of means advanced technology right? It's a bit urban I know-"

"Gantz I think, will do fine" Jiro agreed

"So the ball is called Gantz or the man inside it?" Yoko asked

"Given that the man inside is basically connected to the ball in every way, it's safe to say they're both Gantz, one in the same" Nishi replied

"Sounds logical I guess" Ryo said. All of a sudden, a laser colouring began to spew from the Gantz ball. "Holy shit, do you think it's giving us someone else?"

"It might replace whoever died on the previous mission with new ones" Yoko said as the person in questioned fully appeared in the room "Of course, that's just a guess"

"It does make sense" Nishi said

"W-Where the hell am I? Who are you people?" the male questioned quickly. He was short and wore glasses, he had an average build and wore a suit.

Jiro walked up to the man and cleared his throat "There's not much time to explain I'm afraid. You were brought here by that black ball-"

"Gantz" Ryo interrupted

"Y-Yes, you were brought here and were sort of saved-what's the last thing you remember?"

"Saved? What do you mean brought here? How?"

"Gantz can bring you here just moments before you die, it transfers your body through that" Yoko said

"What are talking about?"

"You died man" Ryo said "Don't you remember?"

"No, that's impossible, I just went to bed"

"That's the last thing you remember? Going to bed?" Yoko said

"Yes!"

"Looks like four eyes died in his sleep" Nishi commented

"I can't be dead! I have an important story to publish"

"Reporter"

The man pointed his finger in no particular direction "Oh I know, this is a set up; to get me not to talk, to stop me from leaking my story"

"Yep, I'd say someone stopped you all right"

"Well, you can't hold me here, I'm leaving" the man walked over to the balcony doors and reached for the latch "What is this!?" he turned around "What's going on? You can't hold me here, I have rights!"

"Think he was murdered?" Ryo said

"Somebody obviously didn't want him revealing whatever it was he had found out, an accomplice perhaps sought out the wrong kind of people, before you know it- the source is terminated" Nishi said

"Got it all figured out huh?"

Nishi shrugged

"It wasn't like that! I'm not a bad person, I Just wanted my story published"

"Please listen, there's not much time to explain-" Jiro started but was interrupted by the sound of an old exercise song. "Oh dear..."

The previous players turn to the ball "Too late" Nishi said

"Too late? Too late for what?" the man questioned

"Look, put everything you know to one side for now. Soon we will be told to kill some kind of alien and then the ball will open" Yoko explained quickly

"What?"

"Aliens, plural" Ryo said

"Oh, right, aliens. We all get weapons and strange suits. We haven't figured out a whole lot about them, but the weapons work and the suit provides good protection as far as we can tell"

"Are you all crazy?"

"I wouldn't bother telling him anything else" Nishi said "It's obvious he's not going to believe any of it"

The Gantz ball began to display the information that they would need to complete their next mission. "See, right there" Yoko pointed "Gantz is telling us about the alien"

The man turned to look at the ball, he squinted at it's strange dialect "What kind of script is that?"

"Relax poindexter, It's really not all that hard to read" Nishi scoffed

"Just replace the three's with E's" Yoko explained

"Please go and eliminate this alien, you bastards" Ryo read aloud

Th3 w33p3r ali3n

Traits: fast

Lik3s: bombs

"It's going to open now" Yoko said

Even though the group-who were familiar with the situation were expecting it- the ball opening so suddenly still made them flinch. "And-And you've all done this before?" The man asked as the group began to gather the cases containing the suits that were located inside.

"Just the once so far" Yoko said as she left the man's side to collect her suit. She left the room and proceeded to change in the hall way.

Jiro held onto his case and held one out in front of the man. "Yuuma Daikei. That's you I'm assuming, you should put on the suit that's inside"

The man looked over as Yoko came back from the hallway, he caught a glimpse of the suit just as she putting her blue jumper back on over her head. "You've got to be kidding right? Don't you think you're all a little old to cosplay?"

"Might look that way, but this baby saved my life" Ryo said as he tapped the case with one hand-holding it up with the other. He then disappeared into the hallway.

"It isn't a joke sir, you should really put on the suit" Yoko said

Nishi sighed, he didn't know why they were still trying to convince him. He had this feeling that there wasn't going to be that many people who would come to this room and figure it out like they had done. He wasn't sure it was necessary to tell anyone else about the situation, if they couldn't figure it out for themselves, they weren't worth it. The old man thought otherwise and Nishi had no qualms with him, he'd let him do whatever he felt was right. Out of their group, Jiro was the only one he appreciated, because even though he wanted to help everyone; he would do what needed to be done.

Every player was now in their assigned suits, including Daikei and including the dog-courtesy of Ryo. "He looks adorable" Yoko said, smiling down at the dog.

"Why did you bother? He'll only run off like the last time, we won't see him again until we're back here" Nishi said as he grabbed the small gun, followed by the GPS. The rest of the players followed suit, each grabbing their choice of weapons.

The man stared at them, while he had listened and put on the suit, he absolutely refused to pick up any kind of weapon. "You really intend to shoot someone with those?"

"Hey, I don't like it either, but if you knew what's waiting for us; you'd be picking up a weapon too" Ryo replied "It's kill or be killed bro"

"I'm a pacifist!"

Nishi laughed "That's not going to do you much good, you'll die within seconds"

"Nishi. It isn't wrong to not want to kill for certain beliefs" Jiro said

"It is when you're on the verge of getting torn apart"

"I absolutely refuse to hurt anyone or anything! You're all insane!"

"As opposed to all the people you might have hurt in some way when you release those stories of yours?"

"I'm not- the public has a right to know what I find! I'm just doing my job"

"And what if the people you exploit were just doing theirs?"

"Stop messing with me kid! I'm a good person!"

Nishi laughed again "Whatever helps you sleep at night" he then grinned "But I suppose that didn't work, otherwise you wouldn't be here"

"You're kind of an ass hole ya know" Ryo said

Nishi just snorted "You were thinking it, I just have the guts to say it aloud"

They look to the ball as it told them to go, more prepared for what was to come their way. "Do not be alarmed, we're going to be transferred outside now" Jiro told their new player.

After a few seconds everyone appeared outside. They looked around, the streets were less lit around the area then their last surroundings. The large open area gave little to hide themselves as there weren't a lot of building material. "Where are we?" Yoko asked

"I don't know, but we're not that far from that alien" Ryo said as he looked at his transmitter. As soon as the words left his mouth, the pathway close to them blew upwards, gravel rained down around them as they raised an arm to shield their eyes.

Nishi frowned and looked at Ryo "Can you say warning!?"

Ryo met Nishi's scowl "That wasn't me!"

"Look!" Yoko shouted and pointed upwards. They followed her line of sight, there above them, was what looked to be a black ball, much smaller then the one in the apartment room.

"It looks like that ball in the room" Daikei said as he hid himself slightly behind Jiro.

Nishi glanced at him in disgust _Leech_

"It doesn't look like what Gantz showed us" Ryo said as they watched it merely hover in the air.

"I think it must have been what caused that explosion" Jiro said

Nishi reached for his gun and pulled it from it's holster. He aimed it at the ball, two fingers on the trigger. "Well we all figured that out gramps"

"No you didn't!" Ryo yelled, Nishi grinned.

Daikei stepped out from his hiding spot, staring up at the ball. The weeper floated lower down and two eyes suddenly appeared across it, followed by a big white tooth grin. "It has a face!"

"That is one creepy ass face" Ryo said as his hands twitched around his rifle. He was all for destroying the alien, but it had to attack first, at least that way he could say it was somewhat self defence; or so he wanted to tell himself. Black short spikes appeared next, growing from it's round frame. "Ok, now I see the resemblance to that alien Gantz showed us"

"How ironic" Jiro said "It's name is weeper, therefore, mindsweeper comes to mind"

"What? Aren't they those weird little bomb things from that late eighties game?"

"Well, I don't think that really was it's intention to take on that persona, it's just that's what it looked like"

"It doesn't matter, it's a bomb, and if we don't blow it up, it's going to be us that does" Nishi said, aiming his gun again

"No don't!" Daikei shouted, Nishi exhaled and before he could fire, Daikei grabbed his arm. "You can't! It has a face, it's alive!"

Nishi gritted his teeth and tried to yank his arm free "Get off!"

"Daikei! We don't like it either but it has to be this way, you have no idea what that thing could be capable of" Jiro shouted

Daikei tried to wrestle the gun from Nishi's hand, the boy clenched a fist, was this guy trying to get them killed?

"I think it's going to attack, it looks angry now" Yoko said as she grabbed her own gun.

Nishi growled at Daikei "If you hadn't have grabbed for my gun, it'd be dead now" Nishi yanked his hand away and aimed it once again at the weeper.

A spike from the weeper shot out toward them "Lookout!" Yoko shouted and they jumped away, the spike stuck into the ground and they surrounded it, weapons at the ready; Daikei waved his arms at them to stop. They each fired their weapons, the end of the guns opening and forming a white light as they pulled the trigger. Evidently they succeeded, but it was unclear who made the kill shot. Black goo splattered those closest and covered the pavement.

Daikei shook, frozen on the spot he stood in "You killed it, you actually killed it"

"No thanks to you" Ryo scolded "Did you not see what it could do to us!? That's not even the half of it!"

"There are still two more, and they might not even be the final alien" Jiro said as he looked at his transmitter "We should split up"

"Are you crazy!?"

"It will cover more ground"

"Agreed, besides there is a time limit, or did you forget that part?" Nishi said

"But-yeah, ok, I guess that's the best plan"

"Nishi and Shin, you stay with me, I am the oldest after all, I should take care of the young" Jiro said

"What!? Are you seriously going to leave me with him?" Ryo shrieked

"You are more then capable of leading someone Ryo"

 _I can't believe they're ditching me! What the hell? I thought we were a team, this sucks!_ Ryo sighed "Sure"

"It's a natural response for an old man to want to protect the youngest, but when did we discuss who was in charge?" Nishi asked

Jiro chuckled, the boy obviously had issues with taking orders, he reminded Jiro of one of his young aggressive soldiers back in the day. "Is it not also natural for the oldest to be in charge too? I was a soldier of war you know, I do have experience" Nishi relented with a pout and turned his head, he didn't like being told what to do. "Ok, be careful Ashi, keep your guard up" Jiro held his rifle tightly and smiled at Ashi

Ashi tightened his grip on his own gun "If I die, one of you will wish me back right?"

"Fat chance" Nishi said without hesitation

Yoko gave him an apologetic smile and Jiro turned around and walked forward. "Oh yeah!? Well screw you too!" Ryo turned to walk in the opposite direction. "Assholes"

Daikei stood and watched Ryo walk away before running to catch up "Erm, where are we going?"

"To find the other aliens"

"But, I thought you beat it already"

"In the last game, there were others, we figure there's a possibility there's going to be more then just one"

"What can you really tell me about all this?"

"Not much I'm afraid" _why do I have to get stuck with this guy?_

"This just can't be happening"

"You're questioning it all now? After everything that's happened already?"

"You're not?"

"Believe me, I was totally shitting myself last time, I still am; but at least I'm more prepared-" Ryo stopped talking and stilled his movements

"What's wrong?"

"There's one ahead"

Daikei peered over Ryo's shoulder "What do we do?"

Ryo watched the red dot move closer to their location, he slid the device under his sleeve up his wrist. He gripped his weapon with both hands "If you're not prepared to get this thing, then you should stay out of the way" before he knew it, the weeper was almost right in front of him. _Oh shit, why me_ The ball spouted spikes and something flew out from his mouth

Nishi fired his weapon four times, the ball moved and zig zagged across the air. "Fuck!"

"It's too fast" Yoko shrieked. Jiro moved to the side and a black spike flew toward him, it sheered right through his suit and out the other side of his leg. "Sama no!" Yoko ran toward her companion but the weeper floated up, lifting Jiro up with it.

Jiro screamed out as he was whisked around, Nishi gripped the gun _Stay still you fucker_ Jiro bit down on his screaming and began firing his weapon at random. Nishi's eyes widen, they had no idea where those hits were going to land. Three simultaneous explosions hit the ground, Nishi and Yoko moved their arms to their face. _Damn, he's going to kill us_ A fourth shot was fired and the ball made a shrill noise and exploded, and Jiro dropped to the ground.

"Jiro!" Yoko ran to his side and placed her hand on his chest. "Are you ok? Talk to me"

Jiro's eyes opened, oddly enough, the pain felt like nothing compared to what he had endured in the past. "I'm alive...?"

Yoko smiled "Yes! Yes you are!" she hugged him as he struggled to sit up

"I'm glad you're happy about that" Jiro chuckled

Nishi rolled his eyes and looked at his transmitter "One more to go" he noticed that the location where Ryo was, the red dot had disappeared. "Shit" so Ryo had obviously got one, and Jiro, which meant they both had gained points. _This one has to be mine, I have to get some points, time is running out_

"Can you stand?" Yoko asked as she held out her hand out for Jiro to take

"I-think so"

Nishi swiped across the directional buttons, the screen changed it's display and in capital letters read: STEALTH MODE. His thumb hovered over the button, unsure whether to risk it, he wasn't exactly sure what it did.

Yoko draped Jiro's arm over her shoulder "Nishi, are there any more? Jiro's leg is pretty bad" Yoko noted there was a lack of response, she turned round "Nishi?" there was no sign of her team mate. "Where'd he go?" There was a fuzz of electricity and soon enough Nishi appeared in front of them again. "What happened!? How'd you do that?"

Nishi looked down at the transmitter in shock "This thing, it's more then just a locator it would seem"

"How extraordinary" Jiro said

Nishi grinned up at them "I think I just found our advantage"

"What do you mean?"

"Meet me there" Nishi then disappeared again, it was a weird sensation, one that he would have to get used to. He knew the device had to do something more, he was happy to be the one to find it.

"You shouldn't go off on your own!" Yoko shouted into the night air, she sighed, she knew he had probably already gone.

"Brave boy" Jiro said

"Can't you scold him for once?"

Jiro chuckled "You're not that much older then him you know"

"Shhh" They could hear a shuffling noise and slowly turned to the sound. "What is that?"

From the shadow created by the street lamp, a figure appeared, still shuffling. They looked down and the sound of something dripping on the floor echoed in the near silent street. "Hey...guys"

"Ashi! What happened!?"

"Next time, you guys get the newbie" Ryo fell to his knees, his arm from the stem of his bicep was hanging by the thread of muscle.

"Where is Daikei now?" Jiro asked

"Is he dead?" Yoko said next

"No! The little shit ran off after we got attacked, I saved him from that spike thing and he totally ditched me"

"He's obviously scared I suppose"

"Scared my ass, he saw his opportunity of escape and he left me to die, only by fluke I managed to blow the thing before it could finish me off. I dropped my big weapon though" Ryo then noticed Jiro's condition "Are you ok old man?"

"I will be, I think"

"Where's the kid at? He ok?"

"He's fine, at least I think so" Yoko replied

"You think?"

"Nishi discovered something on the transmitter, it was some kind of cloaking mechanism" Jiro explained

"It turned him invisible? Sweet!"

"We should catch up with him, if there's a bigger alien out there, he might still need our help" Yoko said, they nodded in agreement and followed the transmitter.

"I can't believe- he-ditched-me" Ryo said between shallow breaths, he was lagging behind, holding his arm that had been leaving a trail of blood behind them.

Yoko and Jiro stopped and turned back "Are you ok to keep going?" Yoko asked

"Don't worry about me, I'll be ok"

Yoko covered her mouth "But your arm, it's-"

"Hanging in there. Heh" Ryo chuckled lightly "Come on, let's go find the kid"

Yoko and Jiro carried on ahead and Ryo shuffled along behind them. "We're almost there, I think we just turn the next corner" Yoko said as she looked at her device.

The two men follow Yoko's lead as she walked in line with the device. As they turned the next corner, the ground rumbled and they found themselves staring up at a large black blob. It wasn't solid like the small weepers had been, it was jelly bodied and there were no signs of any spikes. "Gross" Ryo said as he remained stood by the wall.

"Where's Nishi?" Yoko said as they looked around the immediate area.

"I don't see him" Jiro said

"Well he did discover that cloak thing, he's probably here, we just can't see him" Ryo replied, he stared at the blob in front of them "Hey. That thing, it doesn't have a face this time"

"We should shoot it, right?" Yoko asked, aiming her gun toward the top of it's body. Just then, it's large blobbed body slithered all the way around. It was then they saw within the blackness, red eyes and dripping saliva from a mouth.

"Ok, it still has a face!" Ryo shouted, it was creeping him out, just looking at the grin was enough to give anyone nightmares. "I think you should shoot it now!"

"Ready Yoko?" Jiro asked

"But where's Nishi?"

"We'll find him, but we need to get the blob first"

Yoko nodded and the two aimed their weapons high into the air. The end of the guns opened, white light emitting, but before they could pull the triggers; black goo began to explode from the edges of the alien. Parts of it's jelly body hit the pavement and splashed up against the wall.

"What's happening!?" Yoko shouted as she grimaced when some of the black goo landed up her leg.

"You guys are awesome! Keep going!" Ryo cheered

"That's not us" Jiro said

"What? Then what's causing it?"

"It's Nishi, it's got to be" Yoko said, though they couldn't see any sign of their companion.

More of the alien's black goo separated and blew outwards, they watched in horror and fascination as an electric current began to surround the rest of the alien and then a rain of black goo covered them and half the pavement. Yoko dropped to her knees and vomited, the smell was unbearable. "It's gone" Ryo said.

"Then it has to be over then" Jiro said

Yoko looked up "Nishi?"


	5. Suspect

Yoko, Ryo and Jiro stared, the blob's essence dissolved as it flowed outwards. Nishi stood in the middle, covered in it's black thick goo, he looked up at them through the bangs of his matted hair. "Are you ok?" Yoko asked.

Nishi glanced around himself and then looked back toward the others. "What took you so long?" he walked forward, the remaining goo splashing outwards with his steps.

"We came as fast as we could"

Nishi stepped in front of them onto clean ground "Sure you did"

"Well we were a little bit preoccupied, at least I was" Ryo said

Jiro smiled "It doesn't matter anyway, the important thing is that it's over"

Nishi looked back at the mess of the alien's remains, that had been a close one, he was almost eaten by that thing. He frowned and looked up toward the roof of the house above them. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened. "What's wrong?" he heard Yoko say

He had a steady footing up there, he was sure he was balanced well enough on the ledge. He had a perfect clear aim to kill the alien. Nishi's eyes widened, he was pushed, it was the only other explanation. He looked back at his 'team' Jiro, Yoko and Ryo were the only ones present, he was quite sure it wasn't any of them. "Where's that reporter?"

"I don't know, he was with Ashi"

"Yeah, he was, but after I helped him and got the other alien; he ran off and left me" Ryo explained

"He's also the reason why I was inside that thing"

"What are you saying?" Jiro said

Nishi pointed to the roof "I had a clear shot from up there, I was perfectly balanced, somehow I fell and was engulfed in the alien"

"Are you saying Daikei pushed you off?" Ryo asked in surprise

"He didn't have a problem leaving you to die right?"

"But, he wouldn't intentionally cause us harm like that"

"Reporters will do just about anything if it means their story will get published. He knew for that to happen he had to stay alive until the end of the game"

"But purposely putting one of us in the kill zone wouldn't help"

"Maybe not, but he didn't want the alien to die either"

"This doesn't make sense" Yoko said "What would he have to gain from this?"

"Maybe he thought by helping the alien, he would live anyway" Jiro said

Yoko watched as the top of Jiro's head began to disappear "Looks like we're going back"

"Safe to say it's definitely over" Ryo said

The team appeared back in the room followed by the dog, they looked over as Daikei was the last to appear. Ryo frowned "Where the hell did you go?"

"I'm sorry, I panicked" Daikei lifted his hands up in apology "I didn't mean to leave you like that"

"It's not a situation you can just go leaving everyone, we have to work as a team" Jiro said

Daikei pointed to Nishi "He did, what about him"

"I was killing the last alien, but then you know that don't you?" Nishi walked in front of him-hands shoved in his jacket pockets "See I think you knew exactly what you were doing, when you left Ryo to die or how about when you shoved me off that roof!"

"I didn't! I wouldn't!"

"But you did, you figured that by leaving the alien to attack Ryo, it would distract him away from you and you'd be safe"

"No!"

"I'm actually surprised I didn't come up with it myself, not to be a coward of course; the difference is that I would have taken the opportunity to kill the alien myself. Not for the sake of Saving Ashi-"

"Well, gee thanks kid" Ryo sulked

Nishi laughed "It would have gotten me more points at least"

"There's no I in team"

"There's no I in freedom either but to have that, I have to gain the points"

"Everyone calm down, we survived, and I personally think it's a brilliant strategy. We fight the weaker ones and Nishi looks for the boss, we still all gain points and I'm sure he knows that help is there if needed" Jiro said

Yoko and Ryo looked at him like he'd grown an extra head "Are you crazy? That's a terrible plan!" Ryo said "Besides, he just said he wouldn't do anything to save us"

"I didn't actually say that"

"Yes you did, or at least it's what was implied when you said not to save Ashi"

"I might be inclined to help them, I just don't like you"

"Well you know the feeling is getting mutual kid"

Jiro chuckled "He's just riling you up Ashi, we're a team, don't worry"

"I'm glad you find this whole thing amusing"

Daikei glanced back and forth between the bantering team that had obviously begun to form some kind of dysfunctional bond between one another. "What do you mean by points?"

Nishi laughed "There's a reason why no one here told you everything about the aliens we were sent out to kill"

"That's not the reason, that might have been yours, but it certainly wasn't ours" Ryo said

Nishi looked at Ryo and then at Yoko and Jiro, noting their silence he laughed again "It's just as I thought, no point in denying it"

"You're just putting words in our mouth" Yoko said

"I don't have to"

Daikei was getting agitated by all their secret coded conversations, he clenched his fists and shouted "WILL SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT POINTS ARE"

The group became silent and then before any of them could answer the sound of a timer ending dinged from the Gantz ball. "This will clear things up for you" Yoko said

"Yeah totally" Ryo muttered in a sarcastic tone, Yoko playfully whacked him on the arm

Daikei watched the ball as it began to display more information "What's happening now?"

"Just watch the ball" Jiro said

ok h3r3 ar3 your scor3s

Old man

8 points

total points: 14

86 mor3 and you'r3 don3

"Wow Sama! That's great!" Yoko said happily

Jiro chuckled "Not bad for an old guy"

"I don't understand" Daikei said

Hippy

4 points

total points: 7

90 mor3 and you'r3 done

"I feel like I'm gonna be here for the long haul" Ryo said

"You're still four points closer" Yoko said

"You might die next time, then you won't have to worry" Nishi said

"Thanks a lot, I feel so much better now"

Flat chest:

4 points

total points: 4

96 mor3 and you'r3 done

Hooray! You achi3v3d som3thing

Yoko frowned at the ball, Ryo laughed and placed his hand on her shoulder "Well, at least it's four points closer right?" Yoko folded her arms in a sulk and stuck her tongue out.

Nishi-kun

12 points

total points: 22

79 mor3 and you'r3 don3

"Lucky bastard, you only gained that much by going after the boss" Ryo said

"Not my problem"

Horny dog

0 points

total points: 0

well, can't say I didn't s33 that coming

Ryo bent down to the dog's eye level as it pined "Aww, don't worry pal, I still love ya boy"

Nishi rolled his eyes

Snitch

0 points

total points: 0

targ3t was the ali3n, not th3 oth3r play3rs

The group look at Daikei "Get a bit confused there Mr pacifist?" Ryo said

"I did not leave you to die and I did not push the kid!"

"You had a problem with me killing that alien before, but you didn't have a problem with putting my life in danger to protect them did you? Hypocrite"

Nishi then aimed the gun that was still in his hand for Daikei's head "I wonder how you would feel if I end your life now in order to protect myself from whatever future harm you might try to inflict on me"

The rest of the group gasp "No don't!" Yoko shouted

"You can't! You shouldn't, it's not right!" Ryo said

"But it was ok for him to shove me off the fucking roof into the damn alien's stomach?"

"I didn't say that!"

"What if he tries that again with someone else next time, will that be ok?"

"Just stop, he'll probably die in the next mission anyway" Ryo said, Yoko frowned over at him and he smiled sheepishly "That sounded way worse then what it was meant to come out as"

Jiro placed his hand on the boy's arm "Nishi, please, he's not worth it" Nishi gripped the gun tighter, this guy shouldn't get away with it, he could be the cause of their deaths when it was time to go back to the room. "Please, put the gun down, you don't really want this"

 _Got me all figured out have you old man?_ "What if I do? And what's going to happen next time if I don't kill him now?"

"He won't do us any harm next time, I will personally make sure of it"

Ryo threw his hands up "What does that mean old man?"

Daikei was shaking from head to toe, staring death in the face for the second time tonight. _That look, this kid would really kill me, he'd do it_

Nishi relented, he lowered his weapon but he wasn't happy about it. Why was it ok to kill aliens, but when it came to humans that was different? Who would really find out? Whatever happened in the Gantz room, stayed in the Gantz room. Was it not true that technically Gantz had given them a licence to kill? As long as you killed within the boundaries of it's confined walls and perimeters, why did it matter? And who would know? As far as everyone else was concerned, the people that come to the room were already dead right? At least it was finalised that way when someone actually died in the Gantz world. Sora had died and then died in the Gantz world, but the news had reported his initial death.

Ryo sighed "Let's just get out of here"

Yoko nodded. Daikei looked at them in surprise and said "You mean, we can go? Like, get out of here?"

"Yes Daikei, you may want to leave the suit behind, you will need it again" Jiro told him

"Again!?"

"Were you seriously not paying attention!?" Ryo was getting so annoyed, if Nishi didn't kill him, he sure was close to doing it himself "Don't you get it? You have to get to a hundred points to be free, which means you have to kill the aliens to get those points; you're not going to do that by killing other players by the way"

"So, we have to do this again? For real?"

"Yes!" the team replied in unison, scowling over at him

One by one, they changed out of their suits and were soon back outside amongst the 'real world' "What happens now?" Daikei asked

"We live normally until we're brought back here again" Yoko replied stoically

"How exactly can we live normally after what just happened?"

"Because there's nothing you can do, there's only one way out, so there really is no point in wallowing in despair" Ryo said, it was as if the rest of them had already gotten used to their new lives, like they'd already accepted it. At least to a degree, they wanted to be free-there was no question in their minds about that, but to do that they had to survive Gantz.

"There is! There's something I can do! People have to know, they need to be warned!"

"What!? What are you doing!?" they watch as Daikei ran into the street

"Daikei, you shouldn't, we don't know what happens" Yoko said, she was about to run after him but a hand stopped her, grabbing her elbow. She looked round to see Nishi beside her "Nishi?"

"We owe that guy nothing, he's an idiot and he almost got us killed"

"But-"

"Hey! You there!" Daikei shouted, getting a young couple's attention as they walked by.

"What do you want? Get away from us you freak" the male of the two placed his hand against Daikei's chest

"I'm warning you of the dangers, the government has us all fooled!"

"What are you talking about?"

"There's this ball, it's bringing people back to life after they die and making them kill aliens for it"

The female tugged on the male's arm "Let's go, he's obviously drunk and he's scaring me"

"Nothing is happening" Yoko said

"Do you think they have to believe it for something to happen?" Ryo said

"It's called Gantz" Daikei continued "It's real I'm telling you! I saw it, it made us all kill poor aliens for a score!" by now the female was dragging her partner away as Daikei fell to his knees.

"Look, something is happening" Yoko said as she and the rest of her team walked closer. The couple had fled the scene in fright.

"It's real! Gantz is real! Everyone be warned, you could be next" Daikei's eyes dripped with blood and then suddenly his head swelled and soon exploded. Yoko let out a shriek as they all jumped back from the body. "Holy crap!" Ryo shouted in horror "His head blew up!"

"Well I guess now we know what happens when you blab to strangers outside the Gantz world" Nishi said almost too calmly

"It must be a trigger, to stop those who come to the room from saying anything" Jiro said

"Oh god..." Yoko covered her mouth with her sleeve

"Man, this just keeps getting better" Ryo said and then looked at Nishi "How come you were so calm?"

"I had a hunch"

"You had a hunch? How the hell could you possibly have a hunch about this?"

"Why go to all the trouble to keep us confined to the room and the one square perimeter if we could just go and tell everyone on the streets what happens here? Of course I didn't know what exactly would happen" Nishi chuckled "Who knew the guy would lose his head over it, quite literally"

"This isn't funny!"

Jiro sighed and stood between them for the second time "It's time to go home, don't you think so? I'm sure we've all got people that are worried about us"

Ryo snorted "Not me old man, living the single life" he then smiled and stroked the dog "At least I got you boy" the dog barked excitedly "Shall we go home?"

Jiro smiled "I better go before my wife wakes up and finds that I'm not there"

"See you next time ok?" Yoko replied, she only wished that she had someone back at home that would worry about her. She looked at Nishi, he shoved his hands in his pockets and left them behind without a word. _Bye Nishi_

…...

Yoko sighed as she tiredly traipsed across the yard toward her college. She barely got any sleep the night before, constantly worrying if she might slip up during the day and say something that would trigger her head to explode. The image of Daikei's head exploding played over and over in her head, that wasn't exactly how she wanted to go-though dying in Gantz wasn't a better option either-she'd rather die the old fashioned way, old.

She was about to take the first step leading up to the building when she spotted Yui to the left at the corner of her eye, she was stood in the shadows of the trees that decorated the outside of the college. Yoko turned and was about to run over to greet her best friend, she saw that Yui wasn't alone and decided to wait. As she stood there, she watched as Yui began counting out some money into the other persons hand. Curiosity got the better of her and she sneakily made her way across the short distance and hid behind the tree closest to them.

"Is it done?" she heard Yui ask

"Of course, I told you I'd take care of it"

Yoko remained hidden, what were they talking about? _Take care of it?_

"Well, he may have been the one to find out the information in the end, but it was my first lead and it was going to be my first published story. I could not have my reputation at school at risk, I always deliver"

"As do I"

"Are you sure there was no evidence of it being a suspected murder?"

"None. Yuuma Daikei died in his sleep, as per request"

Yoko gasped quietly, covering her mouth. It couldn't be, she had to have heard wrong. No way this was true. Her best friend, her childhood friend Yui Kazumi just paid an assassin to murder someone, she was a killer. Yoko shook her head, she refused to believe it, it had to be an act, she did take drama for her secondary subject. Yoko nodded, feeling a little better about the situation, that had to be it; it was a rehearsal for a play. She peered back around the tree and watched the man walk off. She stepped away from the shadows and smiled when her friend noticed her. "Hi! I was looking all over for you"

Yui looked startled by her presence and then relaxed into a smile "Hey, here I am, what's new?"

"Erm nothing much, not since yesterday. H-How about you?"

Yoko looked mildly frightened when Yui grabbed her wrist "I have the greatest news!"

"What?"

"My first story is about to be published in the big papers!" Yoko's heart began to hammer against her chest, Yui noticed her friend's expression "What? Aren't you happy for me?"

Yoko's eyes widen and then she laughed "Of course! That's wonderful news, congratulations"

Yui jumped on the spot with giggles "Thanks! It took a bit of work and I had to dig into my savings a little bit; but it's totally worth it" Yoko forced her smile to remain as she was hugged by her friend "Thank you for all your support over the years, you totally had faith in me"

"Oh, I didn't do all that much really..."

"Are you kidding? You're the one that told me to do go for success by whatever means necessary!" Yui hugged her again "Thanks Yoko, you're the best, let's celebrate ok? Friday night, you and me and a butt load of junk food and wine; ok?" Yoko was in too much of a shock to verbally reply and she nodded and then forced another smile. "Great!" Yui squeaked and then ran off, heading to her first class of the day.

Something came to mind, something that Nishi had said in the room _"Reporters will do just about anything if it means their story will get published"_

"I don't believe it..."


	6. Secret for a secret

Yoko slouched in her car, she had purposely avoided her friend all day. She wasn't sure how but she was sure that her friend had known that she had heard something. "I was hidden, I'm sure she didn't see me...but I can't avoid her forever" A knock on the window made her jump, Yoko looked over and saw her friend standing there. Panic set in once more and then she slowly clicked the button for her window to wind down. "Hey Yui"

"Hi, have you been avoiding me? I haven't seen you since this morning"

 _Oh no, I made her angry, she knows!_ "Sorry, I just, it's been a busy day"

Yui chuckled "I'm teasing silly, I just wanted to make sure we were still on for Friday?"

Yoko smiled "Sure we are" _So you can probably poison me, or maybe you wanna kill me in my sleep too_ "I don't have college tomorrow but I'll see you here Friday anyway"

"Right, and we have our part time job too, plenty of catch up time I would say" Yui jumped in excitement "See you Friday!"

Yoko waved at her and then sighed in relief when her friend walked away. "Yui, what have you done..."

…...

Nishi walked into a convenience store, he was almost out of money but he wasn't going to succumb to the trash of society by stealing. He browsed the low priced section, noting there were two others in the store. He paid them no attention, he could not afford to be recognised. As he picked up a sandwich someone bumped into him and he dropped it. He frowned and bent down to pick it up, as he looked up his eyes widened. "Matari" Nishi stood up, the other male had at least two inches on him.

"Well, look who it is" Nishi glared at him when Matari shoved him lightly "Haven't seen you in school recently, too much of a freak for education now?"

Nishi clenched his hand around the sandwich, why couldn't someone like this dick get sent to Gantz? "Out of my way Matari"

"Ooooh, you didn't just say that" Matari moved close to Nishi's face with a grin, Nishi made no sign of backing down, he knew Matari wouldn't start a fight here. "You just wait until we get you at school"

"Whatever" Nishi pushed passed and noticed another middle school student at the counter. It was Fuji, he always hung around Matari, these two were his main problem at school. He walked down another aisle, knowing that the two from his school were watching him.

Fuji nudged his friend "Hey, check this out" he opened his blazer and revealed what looked to be the butt end of a gun.

"Whoa! Where'd you get that?"

"My dad's private collection"

"Is it real!?"

"Of course it is, keep your voice down"

"What are we gonna do with it?"

"I dunno, there's a round of bullets in it, let's go shoot some birds or something"

"Sweet man" Fuji picked up some chips and shoved them in his jacket "That's stealing"

"So? Who cares, I feel invincible right now"

Nishi placed his items on the counter top, the store clerk looked up in time to see the other students place something in their pockets. "I saw that!" he shouted and pushed a red button that was hidden under the register. He then ran around the counter to confront them. "Hand them over! And whatever else you took"

Nishi rolled his eyes _plagues of society_ the exact thing he wanted to avoid. They were stealing and they could afford to pay for it, while Nishi had barely any money left and he still paid for the items he had picked up from the shelves.

Fuji snorted and pulled the gun from his jacket, pointing at the unsuspecting shop keeper"What are you gonna do about it now?" Fuji said

"What the hell!? Are you out of your mind Fuji?" Matari yelled, he was starting to sweat, bullying was one thing; but he drew the line on threatening someone with a gun.

Nishi glanced over at them again, he tensed when he saw the gun grasped in his classmate's hand. _Shit_

"I don't-want no trouble now, just hand over the stuff and we'll just act like this never happened" the moment the store clerk neared them a gunshot sounded, followed by the sound of sirens closing in.

"Oh shit!" Matari gasped "What have you done!? The cops are coming, let's get out of here!" the clerk lay across the floor, bleeding out from the chest, he reached his hand out in a weak attempt to stop them.

Fuji and Matari headed for the door, just as they were about to escape, Fuji turned to Nishi and shoved the gun in his hand. "Tag, you're it" and they both fled the scene just as police were running up to the entrance.

Nishi stared at the gun in his hand "Fuck" he placed the gun inside his jacket, he couldn't it leave at the scene since his fingerprints were now on it. He looked outside, four cops were spread out among the curb. He was starting to think it might be a good idea to take some of the Gantz items home with him. If he only had that transmitter with him, he could have just walked out of the store. While he had nothing to hide since he hadn't committed the crime, nothing appeared to look that way right now. He walked toward the back of the store and through a door that led out into a stock room. He pushed on the other door along the corridor, hoping it was a back exit. He cursed when he found it locked, he slammed his hands on the door in frustration. He glanced up and to his surprise, there was a small window open at the top above a shelving rack. He looked behind him when he heard voices, they were searching the shop.

"He might have gone through the back!"

Realizing he was out of time, he began to climb the shelves, pulling himself up through the window that was just big enough for him to fit through. It led out into the open back alley way and he could see the large bins that were at least a few feet below. With the voices getting louder as the cops were drawing closer, Nishi had no choice but to make the short fall from the window. He crawled out and landed on top of the large blue bin. Unfortunately he bounced off it and onto the floor, placing his hands out in front of him to soften some of the fall. "Shit!" he lifted his hands to discover that one of them had crunched the broken glass that littered the ground. He had no time to assess his injury, he legged it out of the alley way and back onto the main street; heading away from the convenience store.

"There he goes! He's heading away from the alley" he heard the voice of another policeman from outside.

Nishi didn't hesitate as he ran through the obstacle of people in his way, down the long pathway until he came to a corner that led down another street among an intersection. His main concern, that because this had become an armed robbery-one of which he had no part of-they might start 'returning fire'. It was also the main reason he ran in between the crowd of people to avoid that very situation. He could easily escape, they hadn't seen hardly any of his person, all they had was a vague recollection of his clothing. The worst part was running away with no necessary point, he wasn't the cause of the shop keepers death-assuming he was dead-but why bother explaining yourself when the very gun that did shoot the man was shoved in your hands? With the police a fair distance away from him now, he knew he had a good chance of losing them.

Yoko breathed deeply, her friend had been constantly at the forefront of her mind since she left college earlier in the day. She had been freaking out about the whole paid assassination situation from the moment she eased dropped on her friend this morning. There had to be something she had missed, it just didn't feel right, her friend couldn't be that kind of person; she had to have made a mistake. She drove over the crossing once the lights turned green, she just couldn't wait to get home with her shopping and chill out for the night. Something familiar caught her attention, at the corner of her eye she spotted an almost blur of grey.

Nishi ran around the corner, just passing her car as she reached the other side.

"Nishi?" she had to have been seeing things, what were the odds she would bump into him in the streets-so to speak. She continued on driving, not losing the young man's sight. When she got near for a moment, she found that it was indeed the middle school boy. No mistaking the small build and black bangs that adorned his head. "What the hell?" she reached her hand out of her window to adjust the mirror at the side. She couldn't quite see what or who was chasing him, as that had been her first thought when she saw him running. She sped up to meet his pace and shouted out of the window. "Nishi!"

The boy stopped suddenly, hearing a females voice he panicked for a moment. _Please don't be her_ he turned around and spotted someone in a car.

"Get in!"

Nishi squinted until he realised who it was "Shin?" he looked up and couldn't see any sign of the cops still trailing him. He then looked back at her, but why take the chance when he had been offered a ride? He made haste and quickly got into the passengers seat. She drove off without a word.

When she turned the corner onto her street, finally did she glance over at him. "What happened?" he had been silent since he got in the car. "Nishi?"

"Doesn't matter"

"That answer isn't going to cut it, when you're getting blood on my seat" she wasn't sure, but she could have sworn she heard him mumble some kind of an apology; she wasn't going to count on that though. "Are you ok?"

He looked out of the window, choosing not to reply again. He looked so apathetic, was he always like this? She didn't notice much while they were in the Gantz room or while their lives were on the line. "You can stop here"

"No way, you can stay at mine tonight, at least until whatever happened back there dies off. I know you probably wanna get back home, but you can give your Mom a call from inside" Nishi snorted quietly, which Yoko failed to hear as she pulled up to the block of apartments. "Here" she handed him her key. "I just have to get some shopping from the back, go on in"

It seemed like he wasn't being given much choice, so he took the key and looked up at the blocks. "Number"

Yoko peered out from the door "Oh right, it's 38, fourth floor" she said as she grabbed four bags and pushed the door shut with her hip. Nishi turned and eyed her, it looked like he was deciding whether to trust her or not. He then reached down and yanked two of the bags from her hand with his good one. "Oh, you don't have to, I can-" but he had already begun ascending the stairs "manage" she made her way up after him. They reached the apartment and Nishi handed her back the key, it felt too strange to open the door when he hadn't even been to this apartment before. She turned the key and pushed the door open with her foot. "Home sweet home" she sang as she put the two bags she was carrying on the kitchen counter. "It's not a fancy place, but it does have two rooms" she took the bags from him and placed them next to the others. "You can sleep in the one on the right"

"Couch will suffice, it's only tonight"

"Right, o-ok" she began unpacking her items, storing them into their rightful places. "What do you like to eat? I can't cook much, but I have ramen and some veg- or we can order pizza?"

"Ramen will do, stop fussing, I don't care"

"Sure, sorry about that"

"Bathroom"

Yoko looked at him "Huh?"

"Bathroom? You have one right?"

Yoko could slap herself, what was it about this kid that made her so nervous? "Yeah of course, just on the right there" She replied as she pointed to the wall, a door on the side of the one that led off from the kitchen. The kitchen was an open area that then led out into the living room space, the bedrooms along the back wall. Two long kitchen counter tops slotted into the corner, one end stood a refrigerator. There was a microwave at the other end next to a coffee machine. Above the counters there were five cabinets and five cupboards below them.

Yoko kept out two ramen packets and then collected water in a large pan and brought it over onto the stove to boil the contents. "Ramen it is then I guess" _Just what exactly am I doing? I must be crazy, I barely know anything about this kid. What will the neighbours think if they see him come out of my apartment? Mrs Sato already thinks I'm a weirdo_ and she had no idea why, she had done nothing to make anyone think of her as such.

"I think the water is boiling" the intrusive voice made her jump, She stared over at him, glancing down at his hand that was now wrapped in a bandage. "I see you found the first aid kit" _and helped yourself it would seem_

"It was either that, or you might complain about blood on your apartment floor as well as your car"

"Good point" Yoko emptied both packets into the pan "Five minutes"

Nishi placed his hands in his pockets and then suddenly remembered the gun in his jacket when his hand brushed the tip. "I need to step out for a moment"

"Dinner will be ready real soon"

"I won't be that long"

"You're coming back, right?"

"I'm hungry, so I'll be back" Nishi slipped into his shoes and quickly left the apartment. He ran down the steps, never breaking his pace and ran across the car park. He was positive he had seen a large river as they drove in.

Yoko frowned, it had been a few minutes now. She turned the stove off, covered the pan and ran out the door, slamming it shut behind her and forgetting her shoes.

Nishi stood at the side of the bridge, stepping onto the bottom of the railing. It was only a short time ago since he had last stood like this. Except there wasn't a large body of water below and he was on the outside of the railing rather then the inside. He couldn't think about that now, he didn't want to, what mattered was getting rid of all evidence that would lead to his whereabouts. He took the gun out of his jacket, holding it firmly in his hand. It was nothing like holding a weapon from Gantz, he didn't feel the same rush, maybe it was because he wasn't being targeted and attacked by aliens. Just as he was about to throw it, someone interrupted him.

"What are you doing?"

Nishi turned around and sighed when he saw it was Yoko, her features brightly lit by the lamps. "I told you, I was coming back"

"I know- I just"

"Didn't believe me?" he then turned to the railing "You should have just stayed where you were"

Yoko looked down and then gasped when she saw the object he held. "Why do you have a gun?" Nishi didn't reply, but he turned fully to meet her gaze "What happened back there? What did you do?"

Nishi bared his teeth in anger "See a gun in my possession and naturally you assume that it's _me_ that's committed a crime"

"No! I mean, I didn't mean that-"

"You meant exactly that, don't say it and then try and cover it up with a lie"

"What happened?" Nishi remained silent, still his gaze never left hers. "Trust me"

"I have no reason to trust you"

"Two missions with Gantz, and I just basically saved you from whatever you were running from"

"I would have lost them"

"Then why did you get in the car?"

"And as for Gantz, everyone is fighting for those points, no matter how much 'team work' we supply; in the end it all boils down to your points. Including you"

"I know that, but at the very least we can trust each other"

"But this world counts for nothing"

"Well it should! And at the end of the day, we're the only ones that understand right? It's nice to know that there's people like you, Ashi and Sama that are going through the same thing I am. If we're a team in that world, then we're a team in this world too" Nishi stared out over the water, contemplating what she had said. He didn't trust anyone, had never trusted anyone, except for his mother. He wondered why this time should be any different, what made her so damn special? Just because they were involved in the same horror world? It felt strange to depend on someone's help, especially when it had been given willingly. Gantz was different, even though he was sure they were only helping him because it meant better survival chances for them. But now, he wasn't quite sure what she would have to gain. Yoko slumped, Nishi was obviously not going to talk, she didn't know what made her think he would. She turned on her heel, wincing at the rough ground when she realized she didn't have any shoes on. "The offer to stay at mine tonight still stands, dinner is done after all" just when she assumed they were done, Nishi spoke up.

"The gun isn't mine"

Yoko turned back "What?"

"It's not my gun"

"Then how come you have it?"

"I was in a convenience store, two shits from my school were there, this is Fuji's gun"

"I don't understand-"

"I was at the counter, I guess they must have been stealing stuff, the owner approached them of course"

"And they shot him?"

"If you knew them, you wouldn't be all that surprised"

"Then what?"

"Sirens were heard, they fled before the police even got there, Fuji shoved the gun in my hands before leaving"

"And, that's why you have it now?"

"That's why I was running when you saw me"

"But, if that's true, then you're not guilty of anything, why did you run?"

"I was the only other person there, it wasn't exactly great evidence to try and tell the truth. It was best to just run, I was more concerned about them shooting me down. With any luck, they'll find some kind of evidence on camera footage"

"Why was your hand bleeding?"

"Broken glass, don't believe me?"

"I do"

Nishi sneered at her "The doubt in your eyes is very reassuring"

"I just-"

" _You had a problem with me killing that alien before, but you didn't have a problem with putting my life in danger to protect them did you? Hypocrite"_

 _Nishi then aimed the gun that was still in his hand for Daikei's head "I wonder how you would feel if I end your life now in order to protect myself from whatever future harm you might try to inflict on me"_

"You almost shot that guy, back in the room-"

Nishi glared and moved the gun toward her, aiming it right for her head. For a moment, she was back in the alley way, her ex boyfriend looming over her, ready to gun her down. Her eyes wide with fear, she was completely frozen. "I could shoot you now, the gun already has my fingerprints on it, I've killed already, what's a human life to an alien life?" Yoko couldn't move, she was going to die again, this time, Gantz wasn't going to bring her back. "I honestly don't have a problem with it"

"You're lying..."

"I didn't lie about the shop, and I'm definitely not lying now"

"Ok! I didn't completely believe you, but I'm willing to if you put down the gun! Please!"

Nishi grinned "It's funny how the truth comes out when a person is facing death" Nishi turned and threw the gun as far as he could, they heard a distant plop sound as it hit the water.

"You- you didn't shoot-"

Nishi placed his hands in his pants pockets "Don't be fooled, I won't hesitate to shoot, but I will only do that if someone gives me a reason to"

Now Yoko understood, she hadn't done anything to cause Nishi to kill her. But Daikei had, by shoving him from that roof during the Gantz mission. Did that mean that Nishi really was going to kill him if Jiro hadn't of intervened and talked him down? Yoko nodded "I understand..."

"Good" Nishi walked passed her "We don't speak of this again" he seemed to be heading toward her apartment again, so he was still intending to keep her offer. "By the way, you're standing in shit"

"Huh?" Yoko looked down "Gross!" she shook her foot and tried to scrape it off on the curb. "Ew! That's nasty" She could hear Nishi laughing even as he walked away.

…...

Yoko took their empty bowls from the floor beside the couch and placed them in the sink. She turned to her guest, who was now sitting with his legs propped, staring at the black screen of the TV The couch faced the front door, ever since she had been with her ex boyfriend, she became anxious about her back facing the door. She always liked to know and see exactly when he came home. "You can watch TV if you want" seeing that he wasn't going to make any attempts at switching it on, Yoko sighed and then sat back down in her seat. She grabbed the remote from the arm of the couch and then clicked the power button. She smiled when a game show she liked came on, it wasn't to test your knowledge or any kind of prize competition. It was the kind of show that was just for laughs, she always wondered herself though, why people would go on the show to be more or less humiliated.

Nishi glanced at the screen then, the show was already annoying him. He looked over at her and said "This crap will turn your brain to mush, don't you watch anything remotely educational?"

"Well, I've been following the elections to parliament"

"Fixed"

"You think so?"

"Political campaigns usually are, especially when the elective has won so many times"

"Isn't that suppose to be a good thing?"

"I dunno, he's probably got so much dirt on his peers they're begging him to stay"

"You really think so?"

Nishi shrugged "Just a thought"

"Wow..."

Nishi laughed "You voted for him"

Yoko pouted "Well I was impressed by his words of-"

"Deceit?"

"No, you know, how he was planning on changing things"

Nishi laughed again "He's got no intention of changing anything, he's been elected so many times that he's 'comfortable' I'll just bet they bribe him too"

"With what exactly?"

"Who knows, you never can separate the truth and the lies with politicians"

"Aren't you clued up. Now I feel like a tool for voting for him...again"

Nishi laughed louder "So you voted for that moron on your first voting poll, that's so comical"

"I had been following him for a lot longer, I did always say I'd vote for him when I reached eighteen"

"So comical"

Yoko sighed, she had the right to vote for whom she pleased, but what Nishi said stuck in her head, which just made her feel stupid. She finally switched the channel over to the news.

~ A local reporter by the name of Yuuma Daikei, was find dead in his home this afternoon, he was suspected to have died late last night. Cause of death is unknown, though it appears that the reporter may have simply died in his sleep.

Nishi looked over at Yoko when she gasped lightly, "What's your problem? We knew he died anyway"

"Yeah but- I"

"Reality kicking in?"

"No, I- I know how he died"

Nishi grinned "Yes, he got his head blown off by Gantz"

"Not then, before-"

Nishi turned to face her, sitting with his legs tucked under him "Interesting" Yoko turned to him, she thought he was being sarcastic, but the look on his face said otherwise. "Go on"

Yoko realised he wanted the information shared "I can't"

"A secret for a secret"

"Are you bribing me?"

"Not really, bribing is when one person has the dirt on someone and they use that to get something in return. We are on equal footing here, you already know what happened at the store, so it's not really the same"

"I shouldn't, the more people I tell, the more I get involved"

"I didn't ask you to tell everyone, just me, they don't know me. It's unlikely our paths will even cross"

Yoko sighed and sat cross legged in front of him "Ok. My college and childhood friend was and always has been a great informative, her passion was to be a reporter. She worked so hard, any time you needed info, she would be the one to ask. She had been working on so many little news articles, you know, like school ratings, college competitions, things like that. Apparently she had this big time report that she was going to get published by a top illustrator or something like that. Anyway, that guy from last night? Yumma Daikei, he had been following the same information line. I don't think the two had met until the end, she was so stuck on her work being published, that she couldn't stand the thought of someone stealing the lime light-"

"She killed him" Nishi interrupted

"Partly, at least, she's responsible in the sense that she _had_ himkilled by someone else"

"I told you, reporters will do anything if it means their story will be published" Yoko nodded "Exactly how did you come by this?"

"That's the worrying part, I saw her handing a bunch of money to some guy, I was curious and hid behind a tree. That's when I heard them talking about it, he sounded like he was a professional assassin"

"Did she see you?"

"Yes, but only after the whole thing was done. I don't know whether she thinks I heard or not"

"She's what, Nineteen?" Yoko nodded "Then she probably hasn't done anything like this before. So the 'assassin' probably isn't that well known among people who want others dead. Any ideas what this story was?"

"No"

"She might even be having second thoughts about publishing, if this guy Daikei was following the same leads and she publishes the story; whoever he was working with, might have something to say about it"

"But she usually tells me all her reports"

"Has she ever published any of her stories on a real news feed before?"

"Not that I know of, usually just the social media kind, ones that people follow but it's not allowed to go further then the page. She's kind of a bragger, so she would have told me if she had any success before. She did say today it was her big break"

"Then it might be unlikely it's anything catastrophic"

"But you saw Daikei, he was out of his mind"

"Exactly"

"But, he seemed so desperate"

"Maybe he hasn't published or found anything interesting to report for sometime, he comes across this supposed lead of links, your friend unknowingly following the same one. She finds out he's about to take away her first real story, she also gets desperate, pays someone to 'remove' him and now she's free to complete it"

"One's doing it for the money, the other for fame"

"There you go. Only now she's realising the true picture and nature of what she's done and how it might effect her with more then just her career"

Yoko sat back, her head spinning from all the information being passed back and forth between them. "Wow you're good"

"It's just a matter of processing the facts, putting the pieces that you couldn't see because of your friendship to her. Or at least you probably refused to believe it, since you were probably still stuck on the idea that you might have made a mistake about what you heard"

 _What the hell? I'm an open book to this kid, no, not kid, not really; at least not in the mindset._ "What shall I do?"

"Forget it, there's not much that needs to be done. She obviously didn't believe you heard anything or else you probably wouldn't be here right now"

"But we were at college all day yesterday anyway"

"And she couldn't have been near your car at any point during that time?"

Yoko tensed and breathed out deeply "She could have-slashed my tires or cut my brakes-"

Nishi sat back "Well shit, to think I got into the car to avoid possible bullets to get into a possible car crash later"

"Well, nothing happened, so she doesn't know. I'm going to keep it that way, she's my friend after all, I've known her for years"

"People change you know"

Yoko shook her head "No, I think you were right, it was a one time thing, she knows she made a mistake in the heat of the moment"

"It's never just a one time thing, when people kill someone, they don't just stop at one. I'll just bet that Daikei did the exact same thing at some point. Which was why it was so easy for him to do it again on the roof"

"He was a pacifist"

"Bullshit, that's just what he told himself, and others"

"Maybe that's what made him act so weird" Nishi shrugged. "Do you think, that might happen to us? If we kill enough aliens, will it effect who we are? What if it effects us so much that we- get to like it?"

Nishi slouched "Who knows, we-or should I use the term I- might be already free by then"

"I hope so" she stood up as she turned off the TV, she stretched and then yawned. "Are you sure you just want the couch?"

"I told you, it's just one night"

"What about the reason why you won't call home?"

Nishi then glared at her "Not up for discussion"

"Did you run away?"

Nishi looked away, unable to deal with her questioning stare any longer. What would be the harm in just agreeing? He didn't have to reveal any reasons why, and if he agreed, she wouldn't delve any deeper. "Something like that"

"Then where exactly have you been staying all this time?"

"Motel, I had enough money with me"

"And now?" Nishi didn't reply, he didn't want any pity "You can stay here you know, I won't pry, we've all ran away at some point"

"From your ex no doubt"

"Not up for discussion" She grinned at him

"I know you were shot In the head, what's more to learn from that? I can piece the rest together"

Yoko rolled her eyes "All right, enough wise cracks, I'm tired and you're giving me a headache. So, take my offer and stay as long as you want"

"I'm not a charity case"

Yoko huffed, "Then you can help me browse through my friend's page tomorrow"

"I thought you were dropping it?"

"I'm just curious is all"

"Uh huh"

"So there, no charity, you can cook or whatever too"

"I'll help with the page or whatever else on that, but I'm not a maid"

"Ok, ok" she moved to the front door, making sure it was locked and then said "Does this mean you're using the room now and I don't have to get the duvet out?" she took his passive shrug as a yes "Spare tooth brush under the cupboard, towels should be in your wardrobe. There might even be some spare clothes that'll fit you"

"Didn't I tell you not to fuss?"

"That was before you were staying" Nishi rolled his eyes, he nodded at her, which might have been a silent thank you, she wasn't sure. Once they took turns in the bathroom they were ready to turn in. "Oh, I have to go out quickly to college tomorrow, I'll be leaving around eleven, I just need to get my laptop and see my professor real quick. Should be two hours tops, maybe less"

"I don't care"

"Well, help yourself to the kitchen- food, drinks" Nishi waved her off and then made his way into the spare room and shut the door. She placed her hands on her hips "Man he's difficult"

…...

Nishi stirred from sleep, covered in the puffy duvet, it had been a while since he had a comfy bed. The motel wasn't exactly the greatest of comforts. He turned over and blinked sleep from his eyes and glanced at the clock on the bedside table. 11:30. Yoko would have been gone half hour at most. He sat up and stretched and then swung his legs over the bed. He grabbed his grey jacket to wear until he was ready to shower and gather some alternative clothing. As he neared the door, he heard the front door from outside open. He placed his ear to the wood, trying to listen for any sign that it was Yoko coming back already. But he was sure she'd only just left. He looked around the room, there wasn't anything that could be passed off as a weapon. He would have to grab something from outside.

He slowly turned the handle and then quietly left the room. He walked into the living room and froze, coming face to face with the intruder. "Who the hell are you?"


End file.
